The KCIC is really the best building on Campus for a social event. Fountain commons may have been built for such occasions, but it has nothing on the opulence of the KCIC hall, entrance on one side, fire place on the other, windows showing the magnificent gardens outside and lined with artisanal chairs and tables inside. Try as I might I don’t think my skills as a writer are enough to capture it.
It was the perfect venue to celebrate 150 years of the Athenaeum, and the capstone of the evening was Acadia alumni and former Ath contributor Colin Mitchel starting a series of speeches from himself, our own editor in chief, and a panel discussion of people with experience in professional journalism. A pair of ideas that came up in the panel is how the internet has affected the legacy journalism industry, but also how student journalist projects like the Ath have been falling away importance. What came to me that I don/t remember any of the panelists saying explicitly is that those two are likely directly connected.
I have no doubt that all across campus are plenty of talented writers, creatives, all the people needed to make the Ath a titan again, but they aren’t coming to our office. Why would they? No one in the 2020’s is attending a post-secondary institution without a computer, or at the very least a smart phone, something that can access the internet. If you have the passion to write and tell stories, either about current events or your personal fictions, why would you take them to us when you can keep them and post them up on the internet and reap all the rewards yourself?
So, why should you come and write for the Ath?
I have an answer to that actually, because you won’t be doing it alone. One of the best parts of working for the Ath since fall 2021 is being able to bounce my ideas off other people in meeting or in our discord is great because it makes those ideas better. As an English Major who also draws cartoons for the Ath (sometimes) and also writes articles (when moons of Jupiter align) this can be a very lonely pursuit if you let it. But working with the Ath team gives you a community.
I pitched the idea of interviewing and doing short articles on local Wolfville businesses, the inspiration came from discussions with the team about trying to get more stuff on the site with a local interest, and when I pitched the idea I got a lot of feedback from the team that ended up making it more focused and resulted in a whole list of places for the series. And of all the possible material incentives I could give you to join the Ath (resume booster, experience, etc.) learning the benefits of working with the community of both our team and the overall Acadia community is perhaps the most valuable thing we can give you.
So please, come by with some ideas. Love to hear all of them.
