No joke – beneath it all, real learning takes place

Charlotte Hsu
Published: Monday, June 12, 2006

I managed to avoid the dentist for four years, from freshman year to this past April. They discovered five holes in my teeth. That got me thinking.

Here we are, at the end, and what have I really accomplished in college? I am still 5 feet, 3 inches tall. I live in a silver Ikea bunk bed made for kids. I have not gotten over my fear of earthworms. Still, it hasn’t all been a waste.

Studying comparative politics, I read quite a bit about the role of transparency in democracy. So I thought I’d give readers a glimpse into what really happens at the Daily Bruin:

“Stop rubbing your vagina and write a story.” – Kelly to Diamond (Diamond is a guy. Actually, so is Kelly.)

“Real liberals don’t have families. They just have loose associates.” – Charles

Rob: Is that someone’s urine?

Rachel: No, it’s apple juice.

Rob: That’s probably why it’s so frothy.

“Here; you pretend to be the director of the African American studies department, and I’ll pretend to be your source.” – Narges to Adam, one Friday long ago in the News department

Still, crude jokes and evil snickers aside, we produce a newspaper every day. Diamond eventually stopped rubbing his vagina and got around to typing something up.

At a school without a journalism department, I got a great education in that field.

I remember spending two euro at a computer kiosk in Spain, the only money I had, so I could frantically piece together an article from overseas. I remember running to the emergency room at midnight after a police officer shot a homeless man in Kerckhoff Hall.

I’ve spent about 2,376 hours over four years arguing with my coworkers, yelling and throwing things at them, only to realize half the time that I was probably wrong and they were probably right.

I learned a lot here. I learned that news isn’t about places, things or events, but about people.

I learned about ethics. I learned to tell stories. Most importantly, I learned to compromise with a hobbit.

This was the most I ever loved anything, the most fun I ever had.

And here we are, at the end.

Sofia is Pinky. E-mail The Brain at chsu@media.ucla.edu.