The Berkeley Beacon was the first student organization I joined when I stepped on campus in August 2023. From the start, I admittedly spent more time every week on The Beacon than I did on my classwork, even skipping class when a press opportunity came up. As someone who did not do journalism before coming to college, I was shocked that I was allowed to contribute only a week into my freshman year.

I was a scared, freshly-turned 18 year old, and I knew that I was not ready to dive into interviewing people. Thus, the opinion section entranced me. Moving here from Louisiana, I instinctively wanted to write about my queerness. The opinion editors at the time—Meg Richards and Bryan Liu—were the most welcoming people I met on campus and accepted my pitch about Dylan Mulvaney’s speech to the freshman class as our keynote speaker. A few days later, I published my first ever article: ‘Y’all means all’: a Southern queer kid’s take on Dylan Mulvaney’s talk. 

From there, I was hooked. I became a staff writer within two months and wrote 11 Beacon articles my first semester. Going into the spring, I tried my hand at editing as the opinion co-editor. I continued that role this semester and have loved every second of it. 

While I took more journalism classes and broadened my experience, I dabbled in other sections—I covered an Emerson women’s volleyball game, Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Boston, the Boston Marathon, and contributed to The Beacon’s extensive coverage of the April 25 arrests, subsequent Town Hall, and President Jay Bernhardt’s response to the events. 

There has not been a day of my Emerson experience where I haven’t done something Beacon related—attended meetings, edited articles, done layout, or organized the weekly print edition. I spend more time in the newsroom some weeks than in my own dorm room. 

While this is because of my passion for The Beacon and journalism in general, the reason I continued showing up every week was the opinion section. As a first-year, they welcomed me with open arms and helped me find my voice. As co-editor these past two semesters, I worked alongside Maddie Barron, Ella Duggan, Rumsha Siddiqui, and Hannah Nguyen to reshape the opinion section. 

While I have loved sharing my every opinion these past three semesters, my favorite part of being one of The Beacon’s opinion editors has easily been the relationships I have built with new writers. Nothing makes me prouder than seeing someone publish their first article. I am happy for them, but I also see myself in them. I see my own path as a journalist in them, and I’ve been privileged to watch so many young writers find their voice like I found mine. It has been surreal to move from non-reporter, to reporter, to editor in these three short semesters. 

But I’m not going away; I’m not even leaving The Beacon. As I enter my second semester of junior year, I’m leaving my dear opinion team and joining the news section of The Beacon as deputy campus editor. I am excited for this shift as it is a new facet to my journalism career, but the opinion section will always hold a dear place in my heart. 

I have loved serving as opinion co-editor and sharing your voices—through op-eds, letters, and columns. As I move to the news section, I will continue uplifting campus voices and keeping you informed of what is happening. While I may publish random opinions about Chappell Roan or television shows here and there, my primary job will be to report objectively on the happenings at our school. 

Merritt Hughes, opinion co-editor, logging off.