One of my fellow editors at The California Aggie told me something dark and wise when I started the editor in chief gig: “Nothing will make you lose faith in humanity more than trying to run a college newspaper.” Many times this year, in between missed deadlines, editors quitting, financial disasters, an unsubstantiated lawsuit and generally unreasonably angry people, I thought she was right.
Another one of my fellow editors at The California Aggie got me popsicle molds for my birthday — a sweet reminder that most days can be improved with ice cream.
One of my favorite classes at UC Davis was a graduate seminar-style discussion of technology’s effects on the human body. By the end, I was convinced that I was infertile and that most of the world was corrupt and terrible. I was also a freshman surrounded by seniors and too scared to talk.
Another one of my favorite classes was journalism, for obvious reasons. And the animal science class where you learn how to butcher, also for obvious reasons.
One of the most memorable parts of dorm life was having a neighbor who regularly hung a dirty gym sock from his doorknob. It felt so stereotypically college. One time I accidentally interrupted him with a lady-friend in the laundry room. “Why are they doing laundry this late at night?” I naively thought at first. Then I giggled myself to sleep.
One of the most annoying parts of dorm life was feeling outcasted for not partaking in the Greek system. Instead, I joined protests, hung picket signs in my room and blasted Radiohead with the door open because I knew it made my floormates wince.
One of the raddest things about living in Davis is the bike culture. Now I never want to own a car.
One of the most tragic things about bike culture — and not wearing a helmet — is bike accidents. My bike chain derailed after a grocery trip, leaving me sprawled out on the asphalt with my skirt up. I cracked my head open, along with a half dozen eggs. Then I had to clean egg yolk and tofu juice off my textbooks.
One of the best decisions I ever made at UC Davis was to leave UC Davis for a year. Studying abroad can be just as stereotypically life-changing as people say it is.
Another one of the best decisions I ever made at UC Davis was to apply to work at The California Aggie, for obvious reasons.
One of the most shocking emails I’ve ever received was an internship offer from The San Francisco Chronicle. The opportunity to write for their award-winning Food & Wine section had been a dream, and I didn’t even apply for it. I felt special.
One of the most shocking letters I’ve ever received was during said internship, from a reader who accused me of working for the dairy industry and lying to the American public about cheese. It’s hanging in my apartment.
One of the most upsetting weeks of my UC Davis career contained a series of rejection emails from internships I actually did apply for. I felt average. I sent my family text messages that merely read “unemployable.” I wanted to burn my newspaper clips, resumes, cover letters and references. But they were all digital.
Another paper hanging in my apartment is a screenshot of a Facebook thread, wherein “activists” called me a “zionist … piece of shit.” They were angry over our coverage of a brief Dutton Hall occupation, but more so, that our Opinion pages contained “bullshit arguments for free speech.” This did not shock me, as earlier that week I got verbally accosted at a downtown cafe. Some people don’t deserve free speech, they said. I attempted to eat my scrambled eggs at a normal pace.
One of my friends recently accompanied me for a trek to my parents’ house. She went straight for my high school yearbook and read the quote beneath my senior portrait: “Throw down your shame or be a slave to the system.” It’s from a Jeff Buckley song that I had temporarily forgotten about. I had also temporarily forgotten about my bi-monthly column in my high school newspaper, which resulted in the principal pulling me out of chemistry class. He was concerned with how “disenfranchised” I seemed with my education.
Some things never change, huh?
JANELLE BITKER will have her next byline at The Sacramento Bee, barring catastrophe. Stay in touch by email at jlbitker@gmail.com or in the Twitterverse at @janellebitker.
