Editor’s note: This column is adapted from a version that appeared in The Commonwealth Times in December.
We are family: Current and former Commonwealth Times staffers (from left) Brianna Scott, Saffeya Ahmed, Caitlin Barbieri, Katie Bashista, Jessica Wetzler, Zach Joachim (center, standing), Georgia Geen and Fadel Allassan (Photo courtesy Zach Joachim)
I walked into Raising Cane’s without the slightest clue of what I wanted to do with my life.
I’m sure the vast majority of freshmen experience similar anxiety, but this was a true moment of crisis. There I was in late April, walking through Monroe Park (pre-renovations) from my dorm in the old Gladding Residence Center (RIP), asking myself what I had done with my inaugural year at Virginia Commonwealth University, aside from drink and smoke away my social anxiety.
I came to VCU, mostly, in search of an abstract concept built of freedom, diversity and inclusion (bravo, administration — your branding has been impeccable). My sister, Sara, a photography major at the time, showed me around when I was a senior at Maury High School in Norfolk. I felt something sitting on the rocks of the James River after our tour of campus that I’ll never be able to explain — a sense of subliminal belonging, seemingly out of nowhere.
Roommates and friends from high school got me through the first year, for the most part. I still hadn’t found my college “family” or a cause I felt passionate about.
That spring evening, I had swipes on my meal plan to burn, so when a student I didn’t know asked if I could spare a swipe for her to buy some food, I obliged without giving it much thought. This tiny gesture of kindness (or indifference, full transparency) changed my life forever.
As I waited for my VCU card back, the swipee and I struck up a conversation about our futures. I said I love to write, and Bryant Drayton, the sports editor at The Commonwealth Times, overheard us. Bryant, whom I’d never met before, told me I should write for the campus newspaper I didn’t know existed.
He gave me his number, and 108 issues over three and a half years later, I’m left with a resolute belief that fate or God or centricity in the universe, in whatever capacity it exists, overheard my yearning and distress that night. I found my family and my calling at the CT, and the loved ones and experiences I’ve gained here will be a part of me till I’m 6 feet under.
For any students reading this who aren’t sure what you want to do with your life: Find the thing that “blows your f---ing dome,” as Sarah King, my first executive editor (now a Richmond magazine staff writer), put it to me. Do what you love with whom you love. Don’t make decisions that will determine the course of your life based only on a paycheck and social status. Believe in meaning in the universe, no matter what the world throws at you. Persist through the bullcrap, and you will find your passion.
A note to journalists and prospective writers: Freedom of the press is under siege. Now, it is more important than ever for people who believe in unearthing the truth to throw themselves behind the fourth estate. “Democracy dies in darkness,” as The Washington Post’s slogan reminds us. We need you, young journalist, to be the difference you want to see in the world.
You may never know it, but when you asked what I wanted to do with my life, you set me on the path toward my future.
I can never express the extent of my gratitude to Bryant, the Student Media Center advisors and staff, and the rest of the CT team members who became my friends, co-workers and emotional support system during my college years, those who’ve graduated and the ones who are still in the trenches at the SMC.
Watch for their bylines: Georgia Geen, my amazing managing editor and the current executive editor, will be a Dow Jones intern at the Roanoke Times this summer. Jessica Wetzler, my sports editor and dear friend, works at the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Katie Bashista, my Spectrum editor, writing for Rolling Stone.
Fadel Allassan, one of my best friends and the recently graduated news editor at the CT, will be an intern at CNN Politics in Washington this summer, and is sure to go far in journalism.
This is the family I found. Our tomorrows are upon us all, and I’m struggling to say goodbye.
I am forever grateful to the nameless student who asked me for a swipe that fateful day during my freshman year. You may never know it, but when you asked what I wanted to do with my life, you set me on the path toward my future.
To all those high school seniors who are heading off to college and university graduates going out into the world: Go find your family. The human relationships you build along your journey are all that really matters in the end.
A former sports and executive editor at The Commonwealth Times, Zach Joachim is a sports producer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in December with a dual degree in English and print journalism. He enjoys long walks and summer days on the James River, pickup basketball, festivals on Brown’s Island, and frequent trips back to his hometown, Norfolk.
