I’ve left stacks of Daily Bruin papers throughout the country.
Some reside in my mom’s house in Ohio. Others are scattered in drawers at my grandparents’ home in Riverside, Calif. And a significant chunk sit in my Kelton apartment closet.
It’s true – I’m a pack rat. I have a penchant for holding onto trinkets, be it ticket stubs, birthday cards or brochures, which may or may not land me on “Hoarders” in the near future. But I had a reason for always making my routine pit stop at the Ackerman Student Union newsstand and grabbing fistfuls of Daily Bruins to take home.
These stacks are the tangibles of something intangible.
Past the lines of text about a North Village robbery or changing ROTC policies, I can see my missed lectures. The 10-page papers I wrote the night before they were due and the Kerckhoff baristas who brought me back to life in the morning. The relationships I let fade and the new ones that formed.
Between the stories that tell of the incredible people and change that characterized this campus in my four years are my own tales: those of the staffers and friends who recognized that I have a judgment face and still like me despite it. The late-night trips wandering campus. The chance at a career.
And probably a significantly reduced lifespan.
I picked up the paper to hold on to the days and nights I spent writing and editing stories and the UCLA events that affected my life, even if momentarily. These stacks represent my place at UCLA more than my grades, thesis or that degree I will soon be holding ever could.
Journalism can play that role, even for the journalists who produce it.
In those times when I saw another student grab an issue of the Daily Bruin and then quickly stuff it in their backpack, I could only hope I had just witnessed another person like myself who wants to be able to look back and remember something after it’s over and done.
Well, a girl can dream.
Reynolds was enterprise editor from 2012-2013, assistant news editor from 2011-2012 and a news reporter 2010-2011.