Then there were my "He Said" articles of my college heydays at Fairfield University. I'd like to think that venture went well, but I know for certain no one quite got the picture I was trying to paint. Like any art, writing, even when done well, is not meant for everyone. What do I mean? Take the recent on goings concerning the column this year. Accusations of rape, misogyny. Pretty average if you ask me, but with a twist: people are actually upset this time. And not upset in the, "Oh, Dan Stanczyk is such a woman-hater/pimp/chauvinist pig" kind of way. Try upset in the tear up copies of The Mirror kind of way.
Do I care that Chris Shurette has, as many do believe, crossed the line? No, Stanczyk's articles were far more derogatory on a weekly basis. Do I care that Fairfield's student body is finally wising up to social issues on campus? No, it's about time. Do I care that the He Said/She Said column is now, truly dead? Yes, well yes I do.
It is my distinct conviction that now, the He Said/She Said articles will be nothing more than a skid-mark on my alma mater's student run newspaper. Because of one overboard column, articles once carefully designed to incite controversy and conversation will be reduced to every other college newspaper's He Said-esque copycats: bland, lame, and overlooked. This, to me, is unfortunate.
Last year I tried something different. A kind of weekly blog, if you will, only published in a small collegiate newspaper. Each article tracked my own journey through my senior year of college. There were articles about one night stands, crazy parties and things that women do that piss men off to no end. But within those "bland" and "unoffensive" columns there were sentiments about maturity, loneliness, and vocation at a time in all college senior's lives where everything that we had come to know and love would one day dissolve into a necessary connection between our present mind state and our memories of the past.
I write this blog now from an apartment in Derby, only 20 minutes North of Fairfield. I don't live on my parent's couch and am comfortable paying rent and getting by on my Research Assistant salary at Connecticut Mental Health Center through Yale University. I saved up money all summer while I was interviewing working electrical construction.
It's nice to move on from the column, but at the same time it's something that will stay with me forever. I'll be forever known as the hipster that tried to kill 'He Said' by making it more challenging for people to read and attacking the ubiquitous wealth that surrounds the normal kids who depended on financial aid and grants to attend Fairfield for an education, as well as a social life.
It is my hope that the column will go on, being as genuine as possible within the appendix of restrictions that will now be placed on a forum designed for free speech. But, these things happen when that freedom is taken advantage of. And for what? I just don't know anymore.
I plan on using this new forum as an opportunity to write, reflect, and collaborate on my post-graduate journey. If you are interested in reading any of my collegiate columns, or read up on the current controversy, please visit The Mirror's Website here.
