When I got the news that I’ve been chosen to be the next Editor-in-Chief of The Aquinian, my mom was the first person I called.
“I did it mom, I got EIC!” I said, to which she replied “مبروك حبي، حتحصلين فلوس؟”
When I left Baghdad, where I was born, I was 11 and I never expected I would end up in Canada, especially not New Brunswick. After living in Syria for a year, and then the United Arab Emirates, I landed here on Aug. 27, 2013.
The past three years have been quite eventful. I’ve learned and grown so much. I feel like a completely different person, but most importantly my energy is now much more focused on the fields I’m studying: journalism and communications.
Being Layout Editor at the Aquinian this year has been a great time. The experience and knowledge I gained is totally worth the 14 hours of paper design I put in every Sunday.
Do I miss my Sundays now? Sure. Will I miss my Sundays next year and feel like I made a huge mistake? Most probably.
But I’ve never been this excited to overwork myself.
I owe my decision to pursue journalism to this paper. This is where I wrote my first piece, and since then I haven’t been able to stop. I wrote this in my cover letter for the position and I said it during the interview: my biggest strength is that I care about this paper and its place in STU culture.
I hope my diverse staff and background will accurately reflect the STU community, and be there for the students.
If you have any suggestions please feel free to email [email protected], and if you have any criticisms please email them before the end of the semester so Joe gets them.
Thank you for your readership,
Hadeel Ibrahim
