Alas, here we reach the end, good readers. A good 28 weeks of you putting up with my Thursday antics really have gone by quickly, now haven’t they?
And with my graduation coming up, it’s an especially vulnerable time for me to get all gooey on you. But the only tears that will be shed will be the ones from my right eye as it heals from a corneal ulcer, because I plan to leave on a contemplative yet light-hearted note.
Though I won’t say that I’ll be leaving any sort of Aggie legacy, I will give that this job certainly came with its fair share of responsibilities and headaches: turning rambling thoughts into well-formed paragraphs for this column, venturing outside my particular musical tastes when listening to bands for Artsweek, giving me a more legitimate reason for procrastinating on school work and so on.
But the biggest lesson wasn’t acquiring the generic but useful time management skills, proficiency in Microsoft Office applications or managerial experience. No, with my time here, my most valuable lesson was learning how to appreciate people.
And thusly, I became a people person. (Sort of.)
Three years ago, I never would have thought about picking up the phone to cold call a source. You should have listened in on my first phone interview with a filmmaker based in Los Angeles – awkward! Back then, even my e-mails were socially inept.
But now interviewing has become my favorite part of the whole journalism process. Besides, how else would I have been able to meet and make sexy-yet-objective eye contact with people like Michael Cera, have a phoner with Jason Mraz or get the chance to make random students on campus feel awkward with Roving Reporter?
The biggest step to emerging from my antisocial cocoon: realizing that any story – even those in the form of low-rated album reviews – has to come from somewhere.
And lucky for me, Davis is teeming with its own community of artsy inhabitants. It’s because of you guys that the MUSE storylist will remain full and wire-less (literally!).
So, thanks to the people who work to advance the arts scene, both on-campus and off. Thanks to the audiophiles, the showbringers and showhosts, the musicians, the funny folk, the wordsmiths, the art exhibitionists – basically, the people who work hard and non-obligingly to contribute to Davis culture, just because.
Thanks to all the supporters of the arts, the people who seek it out and appreciate it. Even if you’re not directly involved in its activities, thanks for keeping an open mind. At this year’s Search Party show, I asked some random chick if she came to see any particular band on the line-up. Her reply: “No, I’m just here to support local music.” I was so touched, I nearly cried.
While we’re on the topic of supporters, thanks to any and all readers of MUSE. Thanks to the people who wrote in e-mails commenting on articles, the people who caught any typos I tried so hard to edit out (sorry!), the people who sent over actual albums for review because I didn’t want a link for download and the folks who commented on this little column of mine both face-to-face and via the interwebz.
And even if it was just because you were bored in lecture, because something just happened to catch your eye on page 4 or 5 as you opened the pages to do the crossword, because you or a friend were quoted in a story or because I coerced you into picking up the paper at least on Thursday, one word to you all: Kthxbai.
RACHEL M. FILIPINAS is leaving the sun-deprived basement of The Aggie for the world of public television – at least for the summer. She’ll have loads of free time until her lease is up at the end of August, so keep her bizzy at rmfilipinas@gmail.com.
