This Will Do

by Nicole Sadek

Not to toot my own horn, but I am an excellent planner. I pride myself on my uncanny ability to prepare — prepare for exams, prepare for flights (there’s nothing wrong with getting to the airport four hours early), prepare for the worst. But like so many of my classmates, my time at Emory did not go as planned. 

I never wrote the movie that I had always envisioned writing. I never went to that one concert I had scheduled. I never decorated my cap with my favorite line from my favorite movie. But I also did things I never expected to do. I signed up for a tai chi class on a whim and loved it. I learned how to read and write Arabic. I became enamored of this city and then another. 

Those are the spontaneous experiences that I will remember when I think back on Emory.

I will also remember spending four years in a dilapidated building, surrounded by takeout Thai food and off-kilter playlists, laboring over a newspaper that taught me more about life and myself than any other experience in college.

When previous editors of The Emory Wheel have been asked to write senior reflections, they have shared one or two stories that defined their time at Emory. This is mine: in my senior year, my favorite newspaper faced incredible financial dilemmas; became entangled in a lawsuit; grieved; and ended its year far too soon. 

But the most heinous experience for which I was grossly unprepared was the University’s concerted effort to stonewall its student journalists from speaking to administrators, faculty and staff.

Don’t get me wrong; universities, like all other businesses, must protect their own interests. But a university that actively evades the press and hides from accountability should not tout its moral high ground. It is egregious for Emory’s highest ranks to thwart any and all conversations with student journalists and, even worse, to ask their employees not to speak to the newspaper. 

If sources refuse to speak to journalists, they will not have a say in what is published. And neither of us wants that. 

To Emory and its new leaders, I pose two questions: How does an institution expect to flourish if it does not welcome the criticism of its students? How will it be held accountable if it actively squashes the press? And to those who wish to pursue journalism or careers that hold higher powers responsible, know that you will be shot down — but that’s the exciting part. Nothing that comes easy has ever been rewarding.

I am thankful to have had a difficult and rewarding year. While at times I traversed what seemed like insurmountable obstacles, I also celebrated 100 years of student journalism at Emory, welcomed incredible alumni back to campus and learned a thing or two about reporting.

This reflection would not be complete without recognizing my confidant and co-editor Niraj Naik (20B) and my friends both inside and outside the Wheel. Your friendship has been direly needed and much appreciated. 

Suffice it to say, college did not turn out as planned. That movie is still unwritten; I’m still kicking myself for never going to that concert; and I have yet to decorate my cap with my favorite line from my favorite movie.

But I think this reflection will do.