Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Reader,
About a week ago I was laid flat by a (nearly) lethal combination of a fast moving longboard and an even faster moving train. My board caught on the tracks just seconds before the Metro zipped by, and I had no choice but to jump for it. My fall wasn’t epically dramatic; I didn’t fly through the air or anything, but I did land with my complete weight on my ankle. Much like my ego, my ankle was very, very broken.
When I chose to learn how to ride a longboard over the summer, there was always an inkling that things could go wrong. That was the entire reason I loved it so much, I had the ability to navigate the edge of comfort and danger. That element of unknown was the yin to my control-freak yang, born from a semi-masochistic tendency to do everything to the extreme.
Heading the production end of The Wake was another of my extreme choices. I filled the shoes of Executive Director my second year into college by diving head first into a giant vat of the unknown. The year was chaos. The type of uncomfortable where each word sounded like gibberish, and my head was constantly swimming with thoughts of event planning. Not only was I wading through 17.5 credits, a job, and tutoring, but I had to carry a 20 year legacy on my shoulders.
But the beautiful thing about The Wake is that, even though there’s one hundred ideas flying about at any given second, there’s also one hundred extra shoulders to help carry the weight. Being placed in a lead role also meant learning that leadership isn’t accepting all the burdens. I was forced to ask questions, to listen to what our staff had to say and to scream (very politely) for help when I was drowning. Which was very often.
Only recently, our newest EIC, Sophia, told me that she never thought anything was going wrong last year. Which made me audibly laugh because I don’t think I ever was doing anything right. Most of the time I’m standing in front of our intimidatingly amazing staff spouting absolute nonsense and praying that there isn’t a spelling error on my google slide. Then sending a recap email with a Kermit the frog GIF to smooth everything over.
And I love it. I love the constant acceptance of Murphy’s law, and the constant belief that it will be over - come. Here, I’m always growing alongside people who hold the same passions as I do. People who un - abashedly pour their entire hearts into the pages you have before you. The Wake gives the kind of support where you’ll never break. Unless you’re dumb enough to race the Green Line, but then you kind of deserve the cast.
With so much love,
Marie
Executive Director