Jack Wagner, Editor

Funnily enough, I would say I became an editor for the Collegian almost by accident.

Journalism has always been a part of my life. My mother worked as a journalist for years (admittedly before I was born), and my family has always had a subscription to at least one newspaper. Though it took me years to grow my own readership beyond the funny pages, I’ve always loved news and its storytelling aspects. But before the Collegian, I’d never been properly involved as a writer.

My high school had a newspaper, Silverchips. It was a big deal, had apparently won awards for student journalism frequently in years past, and the interview process was intense. I applied, but found my interests trended more towards media production and ended up joining the student-run TV station instead. I took a journalism class in high school, enjoyed it, and moved on. That seemed to be how my relationship with journalism went, most times. I’d be interested, then I’d be busy, and then I would do something else. I thought that was how it would be in college as well. I was wrong, and I’m glad I was.

I entered La Salle as an undecided liberal arts major, which really meant I knew I would be a communication major but wasn’t ready to admit it yet. It didn’t take long. I declared my major in early November of my freshman year, and added a philosophy major the semester after. I chose  media & journalism for my concentration mostly because I loved films, TV and production, and mentally registered journalism as an afterthought. And for the first couple semesters, it was. I signed interest sheets for the Collegian, but then got busy with La Salle TV, or The Masque of La Salle (our theater organization) or my on campus job, and I didn’t go to many meetings or write many articles. Until my junior year, when I, having taken a couple journalism classes for my major and gained some experience, checked “yes” that I would be interested in working as an editor for one of a few sections.

To my surprise, the Co-Editors-in-Chief at the time, Maya Martin and Emily Allgair, offered me the position as editor for the arts & entertainment section. Journalism could no longer be something I was vaguely interested in–I had responsibilities, now. So I blocked out my Wednesday time slots. I started coming to all of the meetings, held in one of the coolest secret rooms on campus that I would have never visited before, and I didn’t look back.

Writing articles was fun. I loved the research, I loved the stories, and I could do it about things that genuinely interested me, since arts & entertainment was chock-full of incredible drama and stories about the media I enjoy. I even discovered that I enjoyed editing articles, cleaning them up and tidying the little details that would make the story shine (and conform to AP style, in all its idiosyncrasies). I was working with a staff of people who wanted to write, to bounce ideas off each other and could joke and have fun while crafting our stories, and there was something special there.

There are a lot of things I like at La Salle. I like the people, and have made many close friends. I like the professors, and love that I go to a small enough school that they know my name. I love the clubs and organizations because I’m part of too many and wouldn’t give a single one of them up. And I love the Collegian, which gave me the chance to explore and pursue an interest I’ve had for most of my life but never did anything with until now.

I’ve tried to get internships at newspapers, which hasn’t worked out. Now that I’m graduating, I might look for jobs or freelance work on the side in journalism. I may have thought it something of an accident that I ended up as involved in the Collegian as I have, but I can say for certain that it was a happy one.