I, along with many of my peers, had several moments in 2025 where I questioned my sanity. It arguably seemed like one of the most eventful years for news, media and ultimately, college students.
Our school year didn’t exactly start as planned. August began with what we now know to be a series of hoax calls called into universities, bringing threats of active shooters and instilling fear within students across America.
While we are incredibly lucky that the calls never turned out to be real threats, it undoubtedly brought communities together, creating a greater conversation on the importance of communication and safety on college campuses.
With the help of my right hand woman and Editor-in-Chief Caden Dyer, we cultivated a dream team of student media leaders across the country to unpack our experiences, including schools like Northern Arizona University, West Virginia University, University of Georgia, The University of Arkansas and more.
By the very end of August, we proudly produced an article that shed light on the intensely raw and real scenarios each school faced, the measures taken for swatting and standard specific protocols that each school did or didn’t follow.
September marked a significant shift within the political climate of our university, community and society after the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk.
Voices and emotions reached record highs across America and on campus, but we kept up — even if it meant sprinting to the Rock to interview students and squeezing in an article after the red paint statement in between taking two exams. Welcome to being a student journalist!
After Kirk’s death, reactions continued to roar throughout social media outlets and news stations, including our very own, where our local reporting led the way in what became a national conversation regarding academic freedom.
When UT fired assistant professor Tamar Shirinian, I watched brave students like Olivia Lee and Patrick Busch leap into action as they covered the situation thoroughly — coverage that even now, continues into the new year.
The Beacon team persevered as we navigated the larger discussions surrounding academic freedom and what it means for professors and students, obtaining the first public interview with Shirinian.
As the craziness progressed through the semester, October rose to become especially significant to me. I finished my first in-depth feature, “This is not going to break me,” on graduate student Klara Dolin. Getting to hear Dolin’s story both rewarded and taught me so very much.
In addition to that article, our community got to hear more work from inspiring student journalism geniuses Olivia Lee, Alex Sarkis, Claire Thatcher and Samantha Whitley at the Beacon’s Behind the Bylines event in November.
By the time we got to December, it is safe to say we all needed a big nap (shoutout to our sports guys who also covered a football season full of emotional roller coasters). However, we substituted with caffeine and continued publication before the holidays crept up.
Our team hit so many milestones — whether intentionally or not. I cannot believe there is only one more semester of this. Will I ever find this rush elsewhere after college?
This team is truly one of a kind and this semester was another giant reminder of why we won third in the nation for best student newspaper.
As I enter the new year with excitement and eagerness to begin my last semester in a new role at the Beacon, I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude, grace and even grief for what last year entailed.
With this being said, I am honored to be serving you behind the scenes as the digital managing editor this year, bringing our UT community some inspiring newsletters, digital content and technical journalism.
Cheers!
