When people say we’re elitist, I start laughing. Most of
us are loud, opinionated and cynical. But elitist? I wonder how the
rumor got started.
We eat our lunches in an unventilated office while making
frantic phone calls, and finish writing our articles only to go
home and stay up late writing papers. We stalk professors and
students to make sure they get a shot at talking.
Between reporting and writing, most Daily Bruin news reporters
spend much of their time arguing with other staff members about
everything from international politics to student fee allocations.
Yet glamour and political change don’t feel like the payoffs
of the job.
I was motivated by my curiosity, my resume, my need to get over
my inhibitions and my desire to be part of a community. You could
say I got everything I wanted, and as a bonus acquired a love for
cheap wine and black coffee.
When it comes down to the work of reporting, sometimes just
getting the story at all is amazing.
A story doesn’t have to break new ground; it’s
exciting to listen to different people’s stories, see where
they lead you and put them together so others can take an abridged
version of the same journey. The tiny pieces of the community come
together on the newspaper’s pages.
In many ways, the Daily Bruin staff has been my community. They
were there to rave about how fantastic Library Special Collections
is or how exciting it was to go door-to-door in Weyburn Terrace and
start connecting how extensive the problems were with
students’ apartments.
With other staffers I’ve shared countless parties, several
late nights, toasts to the end of the I-team series and USAC
elections coverage, a trip to where the newspaper gets printed, my
first visit to Las Vegas and a handful of 4 a.m. realizations that
we’ve done nothing but critique the paper all night.
I can only say it’s been an absolute privilege to work
with everyone who makes the paper happen. They are some of the most
intelligent, introspective and unpretentious people I know, and
they’ve made me eager to pursue journalism outside of UCLA
with the same enthusiasm.
I hope the excitement of breaking the story, whether or not
it’s within the scope of Weyburn Terrace, keeps next
year’s staff working with the same passion.
Bialik plans to spend the next few years figuring out if
she’s the journalist or academic type.