By Julia DiFiori
Copy Editor
Once when I was in middle school, my dad came home from work to find me bent over a newspaper on my bedroom floor, red pen in hand. I was scouring the Riptide Reader for spelling and grammatical errors, and I couldn’t understand why my dad’s reaction to this serious activity was laughter. Editing is something that comes naturally to me, and it never occurred to me that it might be unusual for a preteen to edit a newspaper post-publication without being asked to do so.
After my stint on the Reader, joining Costa’s paper was a no-brainer for me. I knew I wanted a career that involved writing, even as a nervous freshman in Beginning Journalism.
As that year progressed, I remember peeking in at the LV staff through the grimy window in room 6’s brown door, listening to the music the staff blasted throughout production and reading the stories they wrote and edited. I was eager to write eloquently and become part of the staff as a sophomore.
And boy, did I learn how to write more eloquently. But that was to be expected. What I could never have anticipated was the personal impact the organization’s communal nature would have on me. Getting to know the students on La Vista has been the most fun and formative of my high school experiences. Everyone welcomed one another— even the weird, quirky ones like me—so production never felt like work.
I began to write down the memories I never wanted to forget as we made them. We indulged in Chinese takeout on beat-up old couches; we scribbled humorous quotes, drew on napkins and created silly yet masterful Photoshops we pinned on the walls; I got nicknamed “DiFi” (short for DiFiori, designed to distinguish me from Julia Sheth); we moved from room 6 to room 101.
I could fill an entire 28-page newspaper with the warm memories that come to mind as I write this.
Of course, there were times in room 6 and room 101 alike when I wanted to bang my head against the spot in the infamous and now-defunct room 6 that had been labelled “bang head here” in Sharpie graffiti.
But by now, there’s no situation I can’t handle with confidence and finesse. I’m eternally grateful that I was able to learn and grow beside my fellow editors who became so much more than just “coworkers” to me. You guys taught me about Oxford commas and about cherishing every moment, two important lessons I promise to keep in mind while I continue following my little writer’s heart at college.
Love,
DiFi
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