What I Wish I Had Written

Article Ideas for School Newspapers

Elan Levine, Staff Writer|May 16, 2020

Farewell, The Talon.

When I began this class, I wanted to be a journalist. It had been my dream job for years, and while I thought it was because I had a true passion for it, I think I mainly wanted it because Superman/Clark Kent was a journalist. By October, after applying to the journalism programs at many top-rated journalism schools, I realized: this isn’t what I want to do.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I think it’s pretty clear in my writing for the newspaper that I spent the remainder of my year deciding what I wanted to be when I grow up. I wrote about languages and linguistics, and also food, I dabbled in science, but also whatever seemed interesting that week. Moral of the story: I’ve decided to be a lifestyle influencer. Just kidding, that’s ridiculous. Anyway, while I haven’t figured out what I want to be when I grow up, I have realized some articles I didn’t write that I wish I had. Thank you my loyal 6 ½ readers who come back semi-regularly to see what I have to say, it’s been a great year full of ice cream, and whatever else I did.

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Without further ado, here is a list of articles I should have written:

An Exposé On Something Within The School – I was watching Veronica Mars (for my thesis) at the beginning of the year, and I really wanted to mimic what she had been doing. Why are there not enough scandals here though?

A Morning Routine – This was one of the first ideas I had in the class. I never did it because I don’t really have a routine.

High School Job Ranking – I wish I had something like this when I was a freshman/sophomore/junior… everytime you look it up, it’s so generic. A nice, Charleston-specific, realistic ranking would have been great.

More Social Experiments – Honestly, these are so fun to do. Imagine: “I Spoke with a Fake British Accent for a Week” or “I Only Ate Pizza for a Week.” When else would it be even remotely socially acceptable to do these things.

Now this one can seem passive aggressive, but I also see it kind of as a really interesting series: Real-Life Venting – This may take me a second to explain. Think Gossip Girl, but instead of harmful gossip, it’s actually you ranting about your problems that may or may not be relatable. You don’t use names or anything, but if people really care about you and you’re talking about them, they should be able to figure it out. Or, imagine, it’s like a Rom-Com and you’re talking about a girl you like, and then she reads it and knows it’s her and confronts you and you confess your feelings and I’m rambling because this is a great TV show idea as well. If that wasn’t enough, let me show you an example. This past year, I had two friends who I was really tight with. One day, they started hanging out without me. The next, when I asked them to invite me to stuff or at least tell me when they were hanging out, or at the very least, hang out with me, too, they were like “OK.” Two months later, after they continued to lie to me about hanging out together, my therapist advised me to distance myself from them. Good thing Corona happened, am I right? Now I didn’t tell you that to expose anyone, or to make my life a sob story, but because maybe someone is going through the same thing, and this would be helpful to them too. That would be a great series in the newspaper.

Thanks again AMHS for a wonderful 4 years. It’s been a pleasure, and if anyone finds themselves in NYC during the next 4 years, give me a call!