Your paper, your voice, your home

The Daily Bruin Viewpoint section is my home, both literally and figuratively.

Less than year ago, when I flounced into the Daily Bruin office, a bright-eyed freshman, I didn’t expect the newspaper to define my college existence. Yet, it has and I have found my niche at UCLA through it.

Starting as a rather green columnist, I was extraordinarily intimidated by my peers ““ older and wiser students with formed opinions and lofty aspirations. New to the campus and, more importantly, new to college life, I felt like I lacked the knowledge and tenacity to write pieces that would offer the student body a unique perspective on current events, both locally and globally.

I struggled my first quarter, not only trying to assert myself as a good student, but also trying to establish those important friendships and choosing what extracurricular activities I would be involved in.

During this time, I couldn’t even find my way to Rolfe Hall, let alone write a snappy article on current events, partially because I had no clue what was going on in my head, or even in the world around me.

But that changed one day, when after a dismal performance on a chemistry midterm, I stalked into the Daily Bruin and spent time venting to my mildly amused editors. And over the course of the day, I met the other columnists and spoke to other writers.

Now that there were faces to the names in the Daily Bruin, I started reading it regularly, scanning the news pages for column topics and analyzing the individual writing styles of my fellow columnists. My eyes were opened to the diversity in people and events on campus and the amazing opportunities open to me now.

I realized that floating blindly through campus and through my own thought process was part of the reason why I struggled that first quarter. I spent so much time waiting for things to change and for myself to slowly settle into college life, that I didn’t realize I needed to take action, to become a participant in my own life and the UCLA community.

And part of this was understanding the dynamics of the campus. An integral part of cultivating this knowledge was the very periodical that I was working for. The more I knew what was happening on campus ““ the big players, the major events ““ the more like home UCLA began to feel like.

The more stories I read on the top sports teams, the more I felt like a “True Bruin.” Most importantly, by the reading Viewpoint, I found the issues most important to my peers, the issues that were important to me. I became more comfortable asserting my opinions and vocalizing them. Not only did I discover my love for puzzles through Sudoku, but I also discovered a new self in the Daily Bruin just by reading it.

The Bruin is your paper, just as it was mine. The issues covered in its pages are those that are important to current Bruins. And by reading it, you gain a better understanding of the campus and even yourself, just by opening up to diverse ideas presented in our daily editions.

This year in Viewpoint, we hope to focus on the local issues that affect Bruins, as well as keeping our readers abreast of global and national issues. But even more importantly, we want to give you a voice. We want you to respond to our pieces, be it with undying affection or fierce comebacks, and we want you to know that your voice is welcome. We urge you to write letters to the editors, turn in submissions, and let us know what issues are important to you and how you feel about the articles featured in the Daily Bruin.

That is the responsibility that we urge you to take on, that we want you to take on. As students at one of the nation’s most renowned universities, it is our responsibility as the educated elite to cultivate and offer our critical thoughts on the world around us.

And you can do this through the Viewpoint page ““ by reading it and by offering your support and criticism as well as your own thoughts. Use this section to discover yourself. I want you to make Viewpoint your home, and I welcome your input.

Bissell is the 2007-2008 Viewpoint editor. E-mail her at abissell@media.ucla.edu. General comments can be sent to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.

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