In my final letter from the editor of this academic year, I would like to take the occasion to talk about learning. What a revolutionary subject for a collegiate newspaper, I know. This past year (but especially this past semester) has been chalk full of learning opportunities. Some things I have learned include: 1) How to properly cite a book consulted in an electronic format in Chicago style. 2) How to ride a Velo. 3) What “Sub-fusc” means. 4) The Agadir public transit runs 40 minutes behind. 5) The rumours about what you do in Oxford societies are not exaggerated. 6) Sometimes, you should get in a stranger’s white van at 4 a.m. 7) A sconce is not just a light fixture. 8) What escargot should look like. 9) What escargot should NOT look like, etc, etc.
This year was uncomfortable for me as I am sure it was for many of you as well. I moved to a different country, I met amazing people and travelled to equally amazing places. I made new friends and reconnected with old ones. I was thrown far out of my comfort zone and it was not easy, but it was always worth it. This is the very nature of learning — it opens an individual’s capacity to do more, to see more, to understand more. It is not always fun, or easy, but I often find that it should not be.
The Tripod itself has been a learning curve. Our staff has been put through their fair share of trials and tribulations. This semester has not quite been exactly what I envisioned for the paper – there were stories that we could not write and articles that felt rushed or underdeveloped. Not to mention editing mistakes, last minute changes, etc. Still, despite not being precisely what I wanted, I am happy that we were able to learn from each and every error, that our paper was able to continue this academic year and that it will be back in the fall for its one hundred and twenty second year of publication at Trinity.
All this to say: the world does not end when you are faced with a brand new one. As the class of 2026 leaves Trinity College, I urge them to remember that. Trinity is not going anywhere. There will always be rumors about what goes on in Jones, the AD basement will always be strangely sticky, and a variety of projectiles will continue to fly out of the Jarvis windows for years to come. But now, you are faced with building a new life, whether that be across the street, the state, the country, or the world.
Do not be fooled, though — you are not just beginning to enter “the real world.” The “real world” is a fallacy — are we not all in the “real world” all the time? The old hackneyed adage of the “real world” being harder and tougher and more arduous than college is really just an assertion of the effort required to learn beyond an educational environment that makes it easy for you. It will be uncomfortable. It will be tough, but it is nowhere near impossible, and it is always, always, always worth it.
Here is what you will learn from this issue of the Tripod: In News, two members of the class of 2029 built both a trampoline and a bouncy castle in front of the LSC, and gave me perhaps the most entertaining interview I have ever conducted. Researcher DurreShahwar Muhammed gave a talk on peroxisomes, and Dan Lugo updated the timeline on changing the policy on protests and demonstrations. In Opinion, two editors and a contributing writer cover Trinity’s gates, their welcome weekend menu and the spring flip-flop culture on campus. There are two senior spotlights in Features, while Arts contains articles on Jonathan Gonzalez’s reading and discussion, Anthony Bale in the A.K. Smith series and a review of Ancestral Echoes playing at the Cinestudio. Sports includes a recap of spring athletics. Of course, the Tripod could not part for the semester without a final Bits and Pieces.
And now to conclude with more cliches of a farewell or commencement address (although graduation is still weeks away), I would like to thank our seniors on staff: Angelica Gajewski, Annika Hayley, Ashley McDermott and Hannah Smith. There is a pun somewhere here about Triple A’s and their ability to power our humble publication, but I’m too lazy to make it.
Instead, I’ll just say this: you may not read the LFEs and you may not even read the Tripod, but I hope you learn something from Trinity itself. I hope you are challenged and that you have an interest in learning even when it is no longer compulsory. Most of all, I hope you do not take anything too seriously, including this letter. Have a great rest of the year, bantams.
In peace,
TBC
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