For the modern writer, the blinking cursor on a blank Word document is an encouraging symbol, one that seemingly says, “Well, at least there’s something on this page.”
It’s the final threshold between genius and masterpiece. If the Declaration of Independence had been written in 2010, Thomas Jefferson would have adored the blinking cursor.
But just for today, as I lose this staring contest to my computer screen, I loathe that miniature digital monstrosity. It’s taunting me, daring me to begin writing, challenging me to finish.
Today, that which normally marks a beginning instead represents an end. This will be my final column as editor of StateCollege.com.
Writers live in chapters, and every chapter has a conclusion. In this part of my always-changing autobiography, the main character leaves behind his home of the last five years.
I recognize the oddity that is my calling State College home when I was a Penn State student for four of my five years here, but I did spend four summers here. I knew the campus and downtown like the back of my hand, and I had become a regular at various locations. (I think I’ll miss you most of all, Margarita’s.)
What’s really strange is that when I came to Penn State in July 2005, I was not your typical Nittany Lion; I had never even heard of Joe Paterno. And, yes, I’m quite serious.
It didn’t take me long to figure out how to be a Penn Stater. I quickly bought the blue-and-white uniform of hoodie and jeans and wore my lanyard/ID+ case everywhere. (Just as quickly, I learned to lose the lanyard.) I camped out for most of the week before the 2005 Ohio State game. I decided to major in Middle Eastern Studies, Religious Studies and Political Science. I then changed my mind for a field with a future: print journalism (whoops).
I spent the next two years making friends and a name for myself. The Daily Collegian – my home away from home – proved to be the appropriate venue. It was there that I found training, employment and many of my lasting friendships. In 2008, it gave me the chance to be a leader.
In mid-March of that year, I was selected to lead more than 200 of my peers at a daily newspaper, and I had only been able to legally order a beer for less than a week.
The year that followed was the most difficult of my life. I could write a book based off the lessons I learned by making mistakes, but I’m told demand is not high for “Managing College Students For Dummies.” The year’s end brought with it a sigh of relief as well as the should’as and could’as.
It was then that I was presented with a unique opportunity. StateCollege.com Publisher Dan Myers asked me to do it again, but this time starting from scratch. He had a restaurant and the customers, but he needed a chef.
In the time that has passed since, the StateCollege.com editorial department has included Senior Editor and Reporter Adam Smeltz and nearly two-dozen interns, freelancers and contributors. Penn State football guru Mike Poorman has been the anchor of our coverage of the Nittany Lions. Jay Paterno, Russell Frank, Mike the Mailman, Joe Bastardi, Joe Battista and Patty Kleban have been providing perspectives on our town that nobody else has.
I’m proud of how far StateCollege.com has come in such a short time, but it would be foolish and unfair to try to take the credit. The team I’ve had has made the work exciting and entertaining, and the readers have made it worthwhile.
I look forward to the site’s future with high expectations, and I’ll follow its progress closely on its Twitter and Facebook pages.
Besides, I won’t be far away. Keep an eye out, and you’ll see my name appear on the site now and then.
When I get ready to write something else for StateCollege.com, I’ll open up Microsoft Word and start a new document. Then, I imagine, that damn blinking cursor and I might be on good terms again.
