Letter from the Cities Editor

Initially, I wanted this letter to be a bit of a send o and reflection of my time with “The Wake” and its Cities section, as I approach the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel that is graduation. However, as I look back on the fun and welcoming sta I’ve worked with, the creative writers whose ideas I’ve helped bring to fruition, and the unique and wonderful events I’ve attended (everything from spook-tacular art exhibits to cat videos on the silver screen), I’m left with the realization that “I” was never the key component in any of those equations. 

Now to be clear, I’m by no means trying to drag myself through the mud, or say that my work doesn’t have value (after all, someone had to write about those cats). Rather, I’ve come to understand that most of what we do in life is a team e ort. I couldn’t fulfill my role as Cities editor without our under-appreciated and under-recognized Copy, Creative, Distribution, Management, PR, Social Media, Multimedia, Web, or Financing sta , let alone the freelance writers who fi ll our pages with their unique and thoughtful words. Similarly, I couldn’t ramble about Webkinz for 300 words (Volume 19, Issue 6, check it out) if a father and his two sons hadn’t decided to open a toy company in 1950. 

My point is this: life is a relay race, not a marathon. Who we are and what we accomplish is ultimately defined by the people we surround ourselves with. None of us are perfect, nor will we ever be. But by letting in the right people—the ones who accentuate our strengths and help us make up for our shortcomings—we all become greater than the sum of our parts. So as the resident authority on all things community here at “The Wake,” here’s my advice to make that happen: get weird. Ask the old lady who gets on the train with you how her day has been. Find out what that record store owner has been listening to lately, or what the cashier you always see at Walgreens has been up to. Call the friend you haven’t seen since kindergarten. Attend the pitch meeting for that cool student magazine, even if you’re afraid that you won’t fit in, or how the journalists will treat you because you’re a random engineering student (turns out they don’t bite). Making weird connections is certainly better than only making a few. Not everyone is going to become your best friend (that’s not the point) but any bond you make, no matter how small, can have value, and can change both you and the communities around you in profound ways. Thanks for being a part of ours.

Ian Knoll

Cities Editor