This is it, folks.
The end of yet another year, the close of another chapter, and we are now less than two weeks away from the start of summer.
Yet, for some of us, we are less than two weeks away from graduation, and from the next step in our lives.
Whether it’s plans to attend graduate school, starting a job straight out of college, taking a gap year to collect ourselves from completing a degree, or whatever your plans may include, we are all less than two weeks away from it all.
We’re so close!
Admittedly, this is an incredibly bittersweet moment. It’s certainly scary, but this is a time of excitement and of celebration.
We’ve accomplished so much, and it’s my firmest belief that we’re all going to continue on our paths and become everything we wanted to be.
I had the great fortune of interviewing some of the seniors that will be graduating this May, all of which worked for Saint Xavier’s Student Media department.
From the Xavierite newspaper to our radio station WXAV 88.3FM, I had the pleasure of not only speaking to these people about their time and experiences here at Saint Xavier, but also to work with them and to call them my friends.
Let’s meet some of our marvelous seniors of Saint Xavier University’s Student Media!
ELIZABETH GRANATO
I started working here my freshman year back in 2014.
When I noticed the Student Media table at FOCUS that summer, I knew I had to go and sign up.
Journalism is the field that I am going into so it was a no-brainer when it came to joining The Xavierite and I have always had a passion for writing.
I gained a lot writing for The Xavierite. When I would write a piece every week, it gave me the opportunity to keep perfecting my craft and it was very beneficial.
I worked my way up in positions since I started working here. I started as a copy editor, then moved up to Deputy Features Editor, then to Senior Features Editor and finally ending my time here as Editor in Chief.
I also gained some great experiences like writing and covering events for the Goodman Theatre and Heroes and Villains/Walker Stalker Fan Fest, interviewing gubernatorial candidates running for governor, interviewing different bands, among others.
The experience as a whole writing for The Xavierite was gratifying and something that I am going to remember forever.
I have way too many good memories here that would take forever to list. Some of my fondest memories include: all of the inside jokes (this mainly pertains to my time with the 2014-2016 staff), the ridiculousness/comical moments that would occur on press nights with the staff, getting teased on a daily basis about disliking wrestling and superheroes (while I would not consider this a good memory, it was always amusing and I’m glad that this banter entertained others), the 2017 student media party, writing and covering events/shows for the Goodman Theatre, meeting a Backstreet Boy (for those that don’t know I met Nick Carter at an event I was covering), and of course getting to know so many incredible people while working here.
If you think I rambled on here, this is only about half of it.
I will miss a lot of things about working for The Xavierite. Some of the best memories that I have from SXU have happened during my time working here. The atmosphere in the office was always relaxed and fun.
Something that I really wanted to implement while I was the Editor in Chief was having people come to the office as much as they could.
It was always a good time when a bunch of people would be in there or just a few people and we all could just talk with one another about whatever. I think this worked out really well these past two semesters.
As crazy as it may sound, I will miss the chaos. While there were times things did not go as planned, these instances kept me on my toes.
The most obvious thing that I will miss is the people. Even though I remain in contact with past staff members as well as current staff members, it will be sad to not see them as much as I did while working here.
We became a family and created so many bonds with each other. I have met some of the best people here and I am so glad that I did.
I have had a very rewarding and memorable experience here and I would not trade it for anything in the world.
ERNESTO HERNANDEZ
I joined the Xavierite in the Fall of 2017. I joined because when I came back to school, I knew I wanted to do something journalism.
However, a year went by and I still didn’t know how I was going to break into the industry.
It was during a presentation in class where I mentioned that I wanted to be a sports journalist but was thinking in doing something else because there were hardly any jobs.
At the end of class, Caesar asked me if I wanted to write for the paper. I told him I would and we exchanged numbers and a few days later I was at the student media building meeting with Pete about what my role would be.
What I gained in writing for the Xavierite is structure and direction on how to write my articles. I’m pretty good in writing academic papers and I needed to break that habit when it came to writing about sports.
For sports, it’s about getting right to the point. You inform the reader about the result and then you can recap the game and provide appropriate anecdotes.
It also gave me experience in using InDesign. I had no experience with that software and as many can attest, that first go around with InDesign was rough.
I also gained some leadership experience writing for the Xavierite. During my first semester, Mike Rankin, was the Sports Editor. He graduated in December and I was promoted to his spot.
I’ve never thought of myself as a leader and I hope I was a capable one for my two writers, Dominic and Christine.
I definitely have some good memories about articles I’ve written and working for the Xavierite.
In terms of articles, I really enjoyed writing about the women’s basketball and their run in the NAIA tournament.
When I was at UIC I never really got into the sports teams, but it was different here at Saint Xavier.
I enjoyed following their journey during my two years here even though I only covered them for one season. I rooted for the team and was disappointed when they came up short.
Part of that also had to do with the fact that I helped produce some of their games for WXAV. I also enjoyed writing about the Chicago Fire.
As I mentioned, I want to be a sports journalist and soccer is my favorite sport. I’ve been fortunate in being an intern for the Fire which allowed me to be present during the manager press conference.
I felt like a “real” reporter because I was able to record and use his quotes for the articles I wrote for the Xavierite.
Working for the newspaper has been an enjoyable experience. I’d classify my first press night as a good memory despite being at the office until about 1am.
I was able to get to know Elizabeth, Mike, and Caesar better since we went through a “bonding experience” trying to figure out how to use InDesign. Fortunately, we all got better at it and never had to stay that late again.
What I’ll miss most about working for the Xavierite is the people I got to work with. I spent five years at UIC and made about two new friends.
During my time at Saint Xavier and the Xavierite I was able to make more friends in a month here than five years at UIC.
Working for the Xavierite requires to be part of a team and I think we made a good team despite the hiccups.
I’ll miss the press nights where we just talked and made jokes in between laying out the paper. I’ll miss writing articles and being able to go to a basketball game to cover the team. I’ll miss the people.
From the editors to the copy editors. I can honestly say I consider everyone there my friends even if we just met this semester.
If I have one regret it’s not joining the Xavierite as soon as I transferred over to Saint Xavier. I’m sure Caesar will do a fine job taking over next semester.
There’s nothing left to say except “thank you.”
Thank you to Elizabeth, Caesar, Pete, Mike, Sean, Christine, Dominic, Amanda, Cheyanne, James, Emma, Alma, Deandra, Carla, and anyone else I’ve forgotten.
Lastly, thank you Gisselle for letting me write this. It may sound cheesy, but my time here at the Xavierite, and WXAV to an extent, is one I’ll not soon forget.
(You’re very welcome, Ernesto!)
CHRISTINE MANIKA
I joined the Xavierite starting this past August, so I have only been a part of the team for a year.
My previous university closed due to financial reasons, and I was a part of the school paper there.
I wanted to continue to write for sports and I was grateful that the Xavierite team welcomed me into their family.
I gained a lot of writing experience through the Xavierite. I always want to improve my writing skills because it will just make me a better reporter.
You have to know how to write in whatever field you go into. It’s a skill you will have with you for the rest of your life.
I loved interviewing all the athletes! They were all a blast to talk to and to get to know them a little bit better as well.
I believe that part of reporting is forming a connection with people involved with a story. It also makes the athletes or the interviewees feel comfortable.
I wish I had more time at the Xavierite and the Media Department in general! Seriously, everyone was so welcoming and I really appreciated that.
I was coming from a tough situation and knowing that people were there for me meant a lot.
I’ll never forget my notes on the board from different staff members. They made me laugh!
I cannot thank the Xavierite for everything, I’m so blessed.
MIA GUEVARA MORGAN
I joined SXU student media first semester freshman year. I was at FOCUS and my friend said that SXU has a radio station and if we sign up, we could eventually get our own radio show and play whatever music we want.
Since I love music and thought it would be cool to be DJ and share whatever music I wanted with listeners, so I signed up.
I began as a producer, shadowing student DJs for a semester, then I got my own radio show the next semester.
At the end of freshman year, Pete asked if I would be interested in a managerial position at WXAV as Program Director and I said I was, then I got the job!
The rest is history.
What I gained from being a part of WXAV is how to be an even better team player and how to be a leader.
It’s important to support your team and if you can work well with your team and communicate well, then being able to lead that team will be much easier.
I’ve always been a shy person, but working at WXAV helped me break out of my a shell a bit.
I knew I had to step up as Program Director, so it was good for me to start getting used to taking charge because that’s my job and I shouldn’t feel bad because I’m not being bossy, I’m being a boss. Kind of.
Being on air helped me work in communicating my thoughts and ideas better too because you want listeners to stay engaged and not be bored.
This can also be applied to other conversations you have in life because if you’re talking to someone, you want to keep them interested.
I also learned how to record and edit audio. Over these four years I learned how to edit audio in order to get the best sounding quality.
A lot of memories I have with WXAV didn’t always happen on air. I’ll get to that in a moment.
A couple things that did happen on air that I enjoyed was when Sean Rhead did a dramatic reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems.
It was for Halloween and I wanted to share one of Poe’s works on air and knew Sean could deliver because he has a great voice.
Another time I had a blast on air was on College Radio Day 2017 because I did a one hour radio show of only show tunes!
I played Hamilton, the Book of Mormon, Aladdin, Something Rotten! and a lot more of my broadway favorites.
Something that happened off air that is memorable is when Caesar broke the window in the on air studio.
Caesar was my producer at the time and one night while he, Mady and I were doing my show, it got really really hot, and I knew the window had issues with closing properly once it was opened.
So we cracked the window open and at the end of the show, Caesar said he would try to close the window, and as I was saying, “just leave it, I’ll close it in a minute.”
Caesar pulled really hard on the window and it shattered.
As he and Mady fled the scene, I called public safety and they figured out how to temporarily fix it.
Honestly, any time I had the chance to chill in the management office with someone was a good time.
A more recent hang out that was fun was when Eddie, Deputy Music Director, Sean, Music Director, and I were in the management office and Sean was playing karaoke versions of songs and Eddie and I had to see who could guess the song the fastest.
What I will miss most about working for SXU Student Media is the people.
To me, it felt like WXAV and the Xavierite were the hidden gems of SXU. It was like we were in a secret club.
I made a lot of great friends in Student Media and I’m going to miss hanging out and chatting with them every day, or most days of the week.
Even my friends who didn’t join the station or paper would come to hang out with me sometimes, and they always felt like it was place that they could be a part of too.
I feel like we’re a very welcoming group of people who just want to share our ideas and opinions with others and work on how to do that creatively so we can use it on air or publish it in the paper.
To me, the environment is very easygoing and because of that, we find it easy to talk to each other and get feedback and thrive.
GISSELLE LOPEZ
I initially joined the Xavierite as a News Editor during the first semester of my freshman year, and this was mostly due to the fact that I left high school with a strong desire to write and share stories.
I had never indulged in this desire throughout high school, foregoing the chance to join the school’s paper, and really wanted a chance to tap into my writing skills.
At this point in my life, however, I was a nursing major, and I eventually had to leave the Xavierite to further focus on my grades.
Later, when I switched my major to English during my junior year, I returned to the Xavierite as a Features Editor, and I have been in love ever since.
After writing for the Xavierite, I gained a greater confidence in myself and in what I produced in terms of creative writing.
Before the Xavierite, I was more focused on honing my academic research and writing skills, and my papers reflected as much as I continued to improve.
The Xavierite and the Features section allowed me to thrive in a different manner of writing, and permitted me to tap into a part of my brain that granted more leeway and imaginative ability.
I also gained a sense of responsibility and leadership; I was put at the head of my section, supervising the reporters within Features as well.
It was really amazing to have that opportunity.
Really, I had so many great memories this year, it’s hard to narrow it down to a few!
I remember bonding with my boss, Peter Kreten, over comic books and upcoming Marvel and DC films and TV shows.
I remember Monday press nights, nights I usually left early because I would finish my articles after my classes, but that I would gradually stay later and later at until they were nights of goofing around, laughing, and eating pizza.
I remember interviewing some pretty incredible people, from architects to owners of haunted attractions, and learning so much about their stories and their fields from them.
I remember attending Chicago’s Fan Fest with Elizabeth Granato, and getting a chance to meet Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Scott Wilson, and Stephen Amell while she got to meet Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.
I remember delivering podcasts for WXAV and popping into my fellow student workers’ radio shows as an impromptu guest.
I remember a lot of great memories about the Xavierite and student media, and I’m sad to leave it behind.
I’m going to miss a lot about the Xavierite!
If I had any regrets, it would be that I didn’t stay longer during my freshman year, or that I didn’t reapply sooner so that I could have spent more than just my senior year writing.
I wish I had spent more time in Student Media in general!
I will definitely miss all of my student workers that I either met or re-acquainted myself with this year. I will miss having Peter Kreten as a boss!
I will miss myself-started series, “Diary of a Superhero Comic Novice.”
I will miss all the learning experiences, interviewing opportunities, press events, and the fun that came with it all.
Gisselle Lopez
Features Editor