Exit Letter: What it Means to Love a Place

In my first month of college, I stood in a tent on the First-Year Quad at The Student’s interest meeting, and when the news section introduced itself, I was confused: “News” surely had to mean national, state news? What “news” could come from Amherst College? I couldn’t believe a newspaper could sustain itself every week with stories from this place, which to me was still just a random configuration of buildings and grass.

I was so, so wrong. There is a lot here to write about. So much that I ended up helping to create a whole new section just to hold it all. So much that The Student became the way I lived my life here, and the way that I loved this place.

Now that I’m preparing to leave The Student, and Amherst itself, I find myself returning to that question: What is the point of a college newspaper? I’m reminded of something that the incomparable Humphrey Chen ’26 wrote down as he prepared to write his iconic “24 Hours in the Science Center” article: “What does it mean to love a place? Well, to find out, I’ll get to know it a little better.”

The Student, to me, allows all of us to know this place a little better, the good and the bad. My hope has always been that the articles we publish help people understand what’s around them, and make connections across space and time. They certainly have done that for me.

I learned my lesson very quickly as a freshman news editor — there was plenty to cover. Expertly trained by Lynn Lee ’23 and Sophie Wolmer ’23, I soon mastered the arts of interviewing, emailing, and sometimes just knocking on an office door. I realized how much The Student could investigate and interact with Amherst life and college policies. And I got to know the nooks and crannies of the Morrow basement.

After spending my first year working in the news section, Caelen McQuilkin ’24E, Eleanor Walsh ’25, and I decided to slow down and revive the Features section after 19 years of dormancy. We knew that there were so many stories that might not be “breaking news” but still deserved to be explored — so much more we could do to “reflect our community back to itself.”

Features has meant many things to me, but mostly it is hours spent with other people, chasing questions. Long afternoons in the archives, poring over old editions of The Student and boxes of papers for Old News. Phone conversations with alumni, whose 50-year-old op-eds I’m still reading. Endless interviews with people about absentee voting and compost and Rodeway Inn burritos.

Most importantly, it’s meant watching so many writers want to take part in this exploration — people who have come to Monday evening meetings full of questions: What is Val like for kids? What happens when parties damage dorms? Where did those plants come from? How do fake abortion clinics impact our local healthcare landscape? Each of these questions, even when there is no clear answer, has allowed me to get to know Amherst better.

I love this place and all the interwoven dynamics and people that make it what it is. I see that when I flip through the pages of The Student, whether it’s from 2025 or from 1925. I feel it in every panicked phone call, late-night edit, and ridiculous title. It’s why I’ve never been able to tear myself away — not even when I was studying abroad, refreshing The Student’s website every Wednesday morning, and certainly not in my last semester here. The Student can’t capture everything, but it’s still some kind of time capsule of all that Amherst is right now, waiting to be excavated by someone writing Old News in 20 years.

But for now, it’s time to go. I am so proud of what I have gotten to be a part of creating here, with some of the best people I have ever met.

Lynn taught me so much about how to write and edit, through every precise correction and encouragement to start Features.

It feels like I grew up alongside the amazing class of 2025 editors — including my wonderful first-year roommate and Opinion editor extraordinaire Tapti Sen ’25, and our fearless leaders Dustin Copeland ’25 and Kei Lim ’25.

I met June Dorsch ’27 as a freshman Features writer, and it’s been amazing to watch her capably take the reins of this whole operation alongside Naima Mohamed ’27 and Michael Mason ’25. I can’t wait to watch June and Naima continue to flourish.

I have so much appreciation for my section-siblings in News, especially Julia Gentin ’26 and Ethan Neuschwander ’25, who have collaborated generously and inspired me so much.

Thank you to Leo Kamin ’25, who has been my north star: You write, think, and speak with unbelievable intelligence and kindness. You’ve made me feel so valued here, and you’ve taught me so much.

And my fellow features editors: There are never enough words to thank Caelen McQuilkin ’24E. The way you think about journalism and about the world has shaped who I am, my life here, and this paper, for years to come.

And those who have taken up the charge: Emma Burd ’26, Humphrey Chen ’26, June Dorsch ’27, Lauren Siegel ’27, Nife Joshua ’26, Olivia Law ’27, Mira Wilde ’28, and Talia Ehrenberg ’28. I could write a full-length feature about every single one of you, but there’s no space. You all mean more to me than you know, and I’m so excited to see what you do here.

And my forever partner-in-crime, Eleanor Walsh ’25, this place and this story would be nothing without you — you've made this home. Thank you for every memory inside and outside the newsroom. We make such an awesome team.

There are so many more people and moments I could talk about, but being a good SME, I know the limits of InDesign. So I’ll return to my — or Humphrey’s — original question.

What does it mean to love a place? As always, there are lots of answers. But I think I found one: It means spending Tuesday nights in a blue basement room full of laughter and the hum of a vending machine, double-checking quotes and name spellings, and thinking of more and more questions.