Leavetakings are strange beasts, even for those of us whose sentimentality is as dormant as a bear in the depths of hibernation. Saying goodbye to a way of life can be like observing and processing a death — impossible to fully articulate, yet undeniably final.

Upon joining the Beacon staff in August of 2008, I was riding high on an enthusiastic path towards a career in journalism. The ability to know tomorrow’s news today lent me a certain confidence, a trump card to other people’s perspective on issues and current events. Of course this hubris was short lived and I transferred to the creative writing program, but the passion for living on the cusp of a breaking story has never left me to this day.

In the transition from editorial production to editorial staff, I changed my focus from aesthetic to articulation, relating ideas in words instead of design. The transformation that took place led me to new ways of approaching information and writing, and has since informed my style of crafting fiction in addition to news reporting. A common misconception about this job is that journalists somehow tap into a vein of otherwise unattainable knowledge, a task not unlike pulling a story from the ether and breathing life in to it. Truth, in comparison, is less glorious but wholly more fulfilling.

While journalism has definitely declined since I first was inspired to write, I’ve found that those who seek it out have become emboldened by the additional challenges which must be faced when attempting to present facts and opinions in a compelling manner. We resent and repel the ideology of zealots, who would twist facts and hang on conjecture to sell copies rather than stick to objectivity and maintain the integrity of the news cycle. We live in the era of instant gratification, and as such, wait for no source to provide late-breaking news in depth rather than a half-hearted guess at the actual facts as they stand.

This is not to say, like so many other trends, that news is dead. As long as the existence of the human species continues, we will be trumpeting our triumphs and tragedies to all who will listen, without pause or recourse, forever and ever amen. Our essential vanity also gives us that key to compassion and goodwill which makes the news cycle so vital. Seventy years ago the idea of genocide was such a foreign concept that artists could only depict it as the most brutal, bloody spectacle to adorn a canvass. Thanks to the photos taken by GIs and imbedded photogs at liberated German concentration camps, the horrors of human hatred became real, indelible and impersonal, and thus we as a people ostensibly left behind such barbaric tactics, although American involvement in Vietnam two decades later and the subsequent purges by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia leave a haunting reminder that no extent of atrocity is out of the question when the desire for power is strong enough to justify the means of acquisition.

So in leaving there is no apprehension that somehow the world of news will change. I look forward to the surprise of news rather than the world-weary indifference which currently accompanies almost every story I read. Someone once told me that at the Beacon you’re lucky to do a year before burning out, and I’ve been here almost four. The new guard is here to take up the reins, and I can’t wait to see what they do.

To all of you out there who seek truth, and the fewer who hope for some kind of divine justice in this godless world, remember that a byline and two living sources are all the credibility you need to make a story fact. Use it wisely, and we will all prosper. Abuse the privilege and we all will suffer the indignity of ignorance, the most abhorrent trait imaginable. We credit ourselves as the most intelligent species on the planet, but so often fail to keep up our end of the bargain in practice. You’re in college to better your understanding of the world so that you can make it better for as many people as possible. Please, don’t blow it.

— Jake Lane is a graduate in creative writing. He can be reached at [email protected]. All inquiries will be read and relished, if not answered in a timely manner.