Letter From the Editor: Saying Goodbye to My Dream Job

A black and white image of a young woman in a black graduation cap and tassel sits at a table looking to the right. In front of her is a notebook and newspapers spread across the table in a half circle. Behind her are posters hung on a slanting wall. — Berkley senior and ‘23-’25 Editor-in-Chief Bella Bakeman sits in the Pleiad’s new office, KC 405. In front of her are all of the different print editions she worked on during her time at the Pleiad (Photo illustration courtesy of Nicole Quirk).

For the first time in my Pleiad career, I don’t want to start writing. Because writing this means my time as editor-in-chief has come to an end.

I’ve known this day was coming, and have been preparing to write this letter since I took the job the first time in 2023. But unfortunately, no matter how much one prepares for a thing, it doesn’t make doing it any easier.

Brevity is the soul of journalism, but today, I’m going to take a page from former Opinions/Features Editor and alumnus ‘24 Juan G. Rodriguez’s book and write until I’m done. It’d be a disservice to myself and my time in this position to do anything else.

My Pleiad Origins

In the fall of 2022 a younger, less exhausted me climbed up four flights of stairs for an interview with my former Editor-in-Chief Liam Rappleye in KC 441. These days, I take the elevator.

I distinctly remember how terrified I was to interview for the Pleiad. I arrived way too early and sat in a chair outside the office. I’d never been in an interview with a peer before, so though I’d met Liam, I couldn’t help but shake my leg in anticipation.

Now, this may surprise you, but I had no intention of being a staff writer for the Pleiad.

Instead, I applied to be a photographer because of my background in audio-visual work.

I had little-to-no interest in writing, and in all honesty had no idea what journalism really was. But, my fingers were itching to hold a camera; to create something again.

Alt: A young woman stands on the left holding a newspaper, next to her is a young man holding a glass with one hand and his other arm around her shoulder. Both wear black sweatshirts with the “p” for Pleiad emblem and jeans. Behind them is a bookshelf and next to them are stacks of newspapers. — Bakeman and Rappleye stand in the old Pleiad office, KC 441, on April 5, 2023. This print edition was the first that Bakeman worked on (Photo illustration courtesy of Bella Bakeman).

It’d been over a year since I graduated from Berkley High School, where I took an advanced news and broadcasting course for three years. Throughout my years in the class, I worked on weekly news, various video projects, a superlative awards show, film festival, MLK Day of Service video projects and a senior memories video. I’d link some if I could, but our Instagram has been taken over by the yearbook class, which is a shame; I know you’re dying to see what 14-17-year-old me got up to.

When I walked into the small office, covered wall to wall in boxes, I immediately felt more at ease. I remember asking why there were so many boxes, and he said something about the Pleiad getting moved. I didn’t think much of it at the time, I just remember thinking how cool it would be to have an office to work in.

As we talked through my application, Liam started to ask more questions about my writing, and less about my photography work. I remembered how surprised I was by this. As a – at the time – declared political science major and future lawyer, I couldn’t see any reason why someone would want to pay me to write about anything. That version of me would be baffled that I’m graduating with an English degree.

But Liam saw something in my application – saw something in me – and pulled it out:

“What do you think about being a full-time staff writer?”

That question, and my eventual answer of yes, changed the trajectory of my life. I am forever grateful to him for pushing me into greatness.

Learning What Journalism Was

My first semester on staff, I fell in love with journalism. Now, as I said, before working for the Pleiad, I really didn’t know what journalism was.

My parents weren’t particularly well-read, and I didn’t grow up with cable news on the television 24/7. My knowledge of what journalists did was pretty simple:

When something happens, they’re the people who write about it.

I’ve been doing this journalism thing for a while, and I’d say I was pretty dead on. But, of course, there’s more nuance to its definition.

Journalism means writing for the people, by the people. We are the tellers of stories, and it is therefore our responsibility to tell those stories wholly, accurately and without bias. I no longer just say that definition, I live and breathe it, employing good journalism practices in my daily life.

The Pleiad has taught me to be a better reader, writer, editor, educator and person. I no longer take statements at face value. I look deeper and question things; I seek and require more sources to verify what I’m being told.

When I write, I do so with purpose and conviction – because that’s what you do when you write for the Pleiad. Each story I assign as editor-in-chief is chosen for a reason. To uplift the voiceless, bring joy or inform the public about an injustice. Ultimately, it is the duty of journalists to serve the public. And it has been a great honor to serve the population of Albion College.

What the Heck Did I Even Do?

Today, I sit in our new (and old) office, KC 405, writing this letter to you. Getting us back here, to our home – where the Pleiad resided for years – was one of my goals this year. I told the Pleiad’s adviser and associate professor of English Krista Quesenberry, “I have a master plan to get us back into our old office.”

A young woman in a pink floral dress poses with a wall of tote bags decorated with markers. Above the tote bags the title of her project “Anyone Can be a Journalist: Looking at Current Events from a Journalist Lens” is printed in white letters on a black and red background. In front of her are piles of “newzines” curated by her students. — Bakeman poses at the ‘24 Maemester Learning Fair with her students’ work, cultivated from her project “Anyone Can be a Journalist: Looking at Current Events Through a Journalistic Lens.” Bakeman’s work was inspired by her work as editor-in-chief for the ‘23-’24 academic year (Photo courtesy of Bella Bakeman).

That master plan consisted of me… saying those words out loud. Suffice to say there was a lot of work to do. She told me it was a long shot, but she’d support me. And she did, and we got it back.

Now, I’ve done a lot for the Pleiad, and I don’t mean to brag when I say that – it’s just true.

Before getting our office back, I rewrote our entire ancient handbook that hadn’t been touched since 2014 because I had some downtime in between doing Maemester and the Detroit Free Press internship. I added color and flair to our print editions and championed video projects. I redesigned our training practices and implemented self-evaluations into our staff-evaluation processes. I worked with the Office of Belonging to increase our diversity efforts in our hiring and coverage, and can now say with pride that our staff better represents the diverse student body of Albion College.

But, I couldn’t have done any of that without the constant stream of support from my staff and adviser.

Passing on the Baton

As I conclude this story, which I did not want to start, I am filled with a sense of relief and release.

Although serving as your editor-in-chief for the past two years has been a dream, it is one I am ready to wake up from. And though it has been the most challenging, colorful, collaborative and phenomenal dream, I am ready to move on to my next dream: Teaching.

Now that I’m awake, I find myself more than ready to pass on the baton to your next editor-in-chief: Bonnie F. Lord.

Bonnie will continue the Pleiad’s legacy in a way only she can, joined by a leadership team composed of Managing Editor Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal and Assistant Managing Editor Killian Altayeb. The Pleiad is in sound hands.

While I still hold your attention, I’d like to say a couple of things about Pleiad staffers. They are some of the most driven, dedicated, hard-working, diligent, intelligent and thoughtful people I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

Pleiad staff are hustlers. They work late nights, early mornings and weekends. Some of them do this without drinking caffeine (how, I seriously don’t know).

The next time you pick up a printed edition or engage with our online publication – recognize that it came together thanks to a group of 20 or (usually) less student journalists. Each photo, caption, alternate text, headline, body text, newsletter, survey and social media post exists because of one or more of those journalists.

Many Thank Yous

A group of people sit around a table in a coffee shop and bookstore. In the foreground, a man holds a chalkboard sign that holds an answer to a trivia question “Barbie Movie.” — Bakeman poses with members of the Pleiad staff from the spring of ‘23 at Stirling Books & Brew’s Friday night trivia (Photo illustration by Juan G. Rodriguez).

Two young women in black dresses pose for a photo in front of a wall of newspapers and golden balloons that read “1883”. To the left of them are purple, black and white balloons. — Bakeman and Simpkins pose for a photo at their annual end of year celebration, “The Pleiad Unpublished” (Photo illustration by Hannah Fathman).

Next semester, I may not be editor-in-chief, but you’ll find me somewhere on that masthead.

For though I will be a student teacher at Marshall High School, I’d like to keep the Pleiad in my email signature just a little longer.

After I am truly gone, I will treasure Friday nights at Stirling Books & Brew, winning trivia with my team. I will cherish the late nights spent writing and editing. I will remember Krista’s never-ending candy bowl and the fidget toys her partner Betsy brought us.

But mostly, I will feel the joy and hear the laughter that echoes throughout KC 405 when the Pleiad meets on Wednesday nights

Thank you to Liam, for hiring me and constantly inspiring me as he does the journalism thing. To Bonnie, who sat by me through all of my crazy ideas and helped me accomplish them. To Killian, who made me realize I could do more with my writing by watching them write. To Jocelyn, who works harder than anyone and inspires me to be better. To Juan, who challenged me to think differently about journalism, politics and family. To former Media Editor and alumna ‘24 Katherine Simpkins, who told me I was amazing even when I felt like quitting. To Krista, an invaluable adviser who encouraged me to take risks and never give up.

And finally, to my staff, who constantly inspire me:

Keep killing the game.