I have been frustrated this week, actually furious at times. Looking around, I finally notice what so many others have warned me about, that nobody cares anymore. I laid in bed and stared at my ceiling about this. I even thought about it as I fished and it came to my mind as I ‘topped’ a seven iron on the links. Does character still matter? Does pride still matter? 

It is a conversation I have had with several broadcasting professors, they ponder the same questions I laid out. Is it a lack of involvement, a lack of interest or just a lack of caring? Maybe I am too coarse in my thinking. Then I saw my staff rise up last week to get the newspaper out in our first full week as a staff. 

It reminded me of a book I read in senior year of high school titled “When Pride Still Mattered,” it was an autobiography about the life of legendary Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi. The book describes his tireless efforts to instill a belief in his players to strive for perfection and reach excellence. 

The thought put a smile on my face as I thought of the staff putting in endless hours to make sure our first newspaper was a success. We lived up to Lombardi’s expectations, putting a team effort before self interests to develop a product that was full of pride. 

This is the magic of student media here at SUNY Oswego, the effort of several students with similar beliefs to produce content that they can have great pride in. Pride still does matter to the journalists, broadcasters and countless other majors that help make the student media experience powerful. 

In addition to a successful paper, last week Aaron Valentino and I were presented with the New York State Broadcaster Association Most Outstanding college radio show award for our show “WNYO’s Sports Hour.” That award was a sheer display of pride for the product we released four times a week during the academic calendar. This week we reached show 130 as a duo and the resolve is still there. 

I can think of countless other students here at SUNY Oswego that display that same pride when they release a radio show, television show or article each and every week. It is in their blood to put hours behind the work that they release. That is why I wanted to come to SUNY Oswego as a high school senior and be a part of this process. 

Lucky for me, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be in a leadership position at one of the organizations. This allows me to have a fingerprint on everything that the newspaper produces this year but it would not be possible without the effort of the other 16 members of our staff or the other 15 writers that provide articles for us to publish. It is the ultimate group effort. 

The resolve of last week and the character of each member of the newspaper team, has me firmly believing that pride still matters. It always will and it gives me goosebumps thinking about how universal and timeless the principle of working as a selfless team is. The staff goes on and will do it again week after week. Helping each other out along the way. 

Elton John did not describe our process in his 1983 hit “I’m Still Standing.” Actually, Sir Elton, we are still standing. Onward we go.