A home on campus
Before I started at The Crow’s Nest, I was an introverted English major with big dreams of working in a Hollywood writer’s room one day. I had no idea how I would get there and, overall, I felt rather lost.
It wasn’t until I stumbled into the newsroom as a wide-eyed, green reporter that I not only found a direction but also a group of friends who finally made downtown St. Petersburg feel like home.
From my role as a staff reporter to now being editor in chief, I’ve loved every minute of my job. Even while sitting in six-hour budget meetings, conducting interviews outside of my comfort zone and sometimes having to stand up to the administration, I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my days anywhere else.
My time here has allowed me to write stories about guide dogs, powerful alumni and students with funky passions. Each one not only warmed my heart but taught me something new about journalism.
Leaving SLC 2400 behind and moving on to the next step of my life terrifies and excites me. But, because of this newsroom and the friendships I forged here, I feel prepared to venture into any newsroom and tackle anything life throws my way.
––Whitney Elfstrom
Unlikely friends
I never thought I’d hang out with a bunch of people who talk about em dashes in regular conversation— yet here I am.
When I first walked into this newsroom three years ago, I didn’t know they would become my best friends.
I was stuck hard on the idea that I wanted to be a journalist because I wanted to be just like Hunter S. Thompson.
I never went on a trip to Las Vegas with two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of powered blotter acid and all that. I did almost get the newspaper sued and broke the website from getting so many views on a story.
Like my teenage idol, my colleagues here made me certain that until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says “you are nothing,” I will be a writer.
They taught me more about journalism than any class or textbook ever could— and that good people drink good beer.
You don’t stay in the newsroom until 4 a.m. putting a newspaper together unless you have a deep, driving passion to tell the truth. Those nights were filled with laughter, yelling and tears, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Even in a small community like this, we have seen real changes happen as a result of our reporting. That’s why we do it.
I’m dedicating the rest of my life to the pursuit of telling the truth. Thank you, Crow’s Nest, for teaching me why that’s important.
—Anna Bryson
Goals become actualized
When I transferred from New College of Florida to USF St. Petersburg nearly three years ago, I did so with one goal in mind: becoming the best journalism student I could be.
I was going to be editor in chief of The Crow’s Nest. I was going to have multiple successful internships, and I was going to land a journalism job right out of the gates.
I did all three of those things –– but most importantly, I made lifelong friends along the way.
The Crow’s Nest has been a life-changing experience for me. I was dead-set on being a professional, on mastering my craft and on becoming the quintessential reporter –– but the journey has proven to be more valuable than any destination.
It’s cliche’ to say, but it’s true. Newsrooms, in addition to producing news, forge friendships.
I’m thankful for that.
Three years after abandoning my position as an emerging classics major at the small liberal arts college in Sarasota, I’ve realized that I’m never going to be the best journalist.
But I do have the best friends I could ask for.
When I graduate, I’m going to miss a lot of things about this campus: buffalo shrimp and brews at The Tavern, the beautiful waters at the bayfront and consolidation (just kidding, who thought that was a good idea?).
But most of all, I’m going to miss the people.
––Michael Moore Jr.
Introvert in bloom (pardon my Nirvana reference)
Doing this journey of journalism at my college newspaper has been incredible. I knew I was a writer before this, but I didn’t know in what way. All I knew was I wrote better than I spoke.
Journalism forced me out of my shell — sorry Whitney, I was even more majorly introverted — but in the best way, to hear stories from people. Along with my personality, I never thought any story I wrote for this paper would ultimately land me at Florida’s largest and best newspaper.
I spent my senior year as low-level editor and my name never rose to the top three of the masthead after hanging around for two and a half years. But I still accomplished most of what I set out to do: write a ton of features and arts stories.
More importantly, though, I found connection and too many friends. I learned so much about friendship spending three semesters in that office — I never had a best friend until last fall.
Nobody bothered me about not talking all that much and they allowed my writing to speak for itself. I appreciate y’all very much. Thank you for the best three years of my life so far.
—Dinorah Prevost
Not enough time
When I was interviewed to be a staff reporter for The Crow’s Nest, one of the questions Whitney and Emily asked me was “How clean is your copy?” I remember feeling like such an idiot when I had to ask what they meant.
In spite of my lack of knowledge of the lingo, they brought me on board and I couldn’t be more thankful.
I had a lot of learning to do, but it went far beyond knowing AP style and quitting the Oxford Comma. I learned how to walk up to strangers and ask them questions, write on a deadline and find my voice.
The Crow’s Nest has brought me into a warehouse full of weapons and junk to break, local gardens and a roller rink. I’ve gotten to ask professors about what it was like to serve on a panel with a Russian spy and study police reports to piece together a crime that lasted over seven and a half hours.
No matter the subject, The Crow’s Nest has taught me how to find a good story and tell it right. I wish I had more than a year at the paper.
––Amy Diaz
