The perks of being opinionated

I haven’t done the math, but I’m almost positive that I’ve spent more time in the Daily Trojan newsroom than in my own apartment this week.

I’m the editorial director of the Daily Trojan, which means that I manage the Opinion section — I assign pitches, write a column, edit stories, assign artwork and make the layout that readers see daily when they open the Opinion section of the newspaper. During my first semester in this position, I can’t count the number of times I promised to discontinue working for the newspaper and return home at a reasonable hour. And yet — somehow — I’m still here.

As my involvement with the paper  — as well as that of many of my fellow editors, writers and photographers — has increased, the question I receive again and again, when I have to cancel social plans or reschedule study sessions, is: why? Why would a full-time student not majoring in journalism dedicate her time to a school newspaper?

Just in the last couple weeks, the DT Opinion staff has explored hard-hitting issues like whether to rename VKC, the implications of USC’s apology for their sexual assault prevention course and the effectiveness of the Engemann Health Center for mental health on campus. Last semester, the rise in campus activism last semester, gave us even more opportunities to continue crucial discussions — be it debating the hire of former football coach Steve Sarkisian or advocacy for a vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion following student diversity protests.

It’s these campus conversations that keeps editors like me up in the newsroom, writing stories and directing pitches. This section has given me the invaluable opportunity to act as an advocate for students and explore important social issues on campus. For someone like me who loves making sense of conflict — even revels in it — I couldn’t imagine a job I would enjoy more.

On some level, my tendency to surround my life with opinions is an extension of the annoying millennial desire to make social imprints on the world around me. And it’s a manifestation of the ambition shared by Trojans across campus and of being a college student eager to prove that she deserves a seat at the adult table.

The wonderful thing about working for the Daily Trojan, too, is an undeniable sense of being part of something bigger, and though the sentiment is admittedly cliché, the experience is decidedly not. I have had the greatest privilege of working alongside some of the most intellectual student leaders on campus. We are united not just in our long hours poring over excessively large Macs and napping on red couches, but also in our unwavering commitment to informing the tens of thousands undergraduates at the University of Southern California. And I am constantly in awe of the questions asked, stories written and experiences shared by my fellow journalists every single day.

It’s become increasingly difficult to divorce my undergraduate experience here from my time at the Daily Trojan. And even though I tried my best to resist it, the family on the fourth floor of the Student Union building has me hooked. Not to mention, of course, the chance to occupy some role in dialogues whose repercussions stretch much farther than the gates of USC.

The first time I went home after coming to college, my parents remarked, “You’re so opinionated now.” Well, I hate to break the news, but it looks like I’m staying that way.

Sonali Seth is a sophomore majoring in political science and policy, planning, development. She is also the editorial director of the Daily Trojan.