Editor’s Desk: Being Remembered with The Loyola Phoenix

Every other week, when my Editor’s Desk doesn’t include an interview with another editor-in-chief, I feel a lot of pressure when writing my column.

I think, in my mind, I see it as a representation of how I’ll be remembered when I’ve gone and graduated from Loyola. 

Over this past weekend, alumni from all over the country gathered on Loyola’s campus to celebrate their time at the university. I ran into a few who graduated at different points over the past decades and even thinking about how each of them were likely living lives so parallel to mine was really eye-opening.

When you’re in college — as I am — it’s hard to think of everyone outside of your own little bubble as living similar lives. But they are.

Even if my friends and I share a “campus celebrity,” it’s hard to really imagine those people sitting bored in class, debating whether to go Target or Devon Market when they ran out of groceries or putting an extra sweatshirt on when it’s snowing on Halloween. But they do.

When I think about how my professors, peers, friends and fellow editors at The Phoenix will remember me, I kind of get scared. 

So much of my legacy here will be defined by what’s published at The Phoenix. And that’s exciting, but it’s daunting. I care so deeply about what we publish and how things are written, but it’s a lot. I’m honored to be a part of it, but it’s a lot.

Outside of the paper, will my journalism professor remember when I turned in a draft that could have been stronger? Will my roommates remember that I forgot to do my weekly chore (I still have to clean the floors)?

In the end, I think our intentions shouldn’t be motivated by remembrance, but rather what’s best for the present.

Everyone who came back to Loyola for Alumni Weekend probably had a lot of memories rush back to them. I don’t know when the next time I’ll step on Loyola’s campus after May, but I’m sure I’ll remember the good and the bad. 

I don’t really know what the point of this column was this week, but I hope it made you think. Because I’ve been doing a lot of that recently. 

In News, read about what events unfolded during Alumni Weekend. For beautiful reflections on death and remembrance, go to our stories about a local community ofrenda and professors preparing for the holiday.

I hope you enjoy our Día de los Muertos issue. 

Rest in peace to Matthew Perry.