A Final Farewell to Strike
Image Courtesy: Harper Covington
After five issues and 14 blogs written for this organization, the time has come for me to close the final chapter with Strike Magazine. It is with tears falling onto my keyboard as I write this closing message, first to the organization that has given me so much throughout these past three years, but mainly to the 19-year-old version of myself who danced around in her room when she received the email saying her application had been accepted.
I remember getting dressed for my first meeting, facetiming my best friend who was studying abroad at the time. As a fashion merchandising major, she was one of the only ones I trusted to give me advice as to what outfit was appropriate to wear to a gathering made up of people who immerse themselves in the fashion field. I was already worried my writing skills would not be up to par, and the last thing I wanted was to be lacking in the style department alongside it.
I walked out of the house in a pair of blue jeans, a long-sleeved bodysuit, a sensible belt and my favorite black boots, hoping my look was the perfect mix of professional and chic. While I initially felt a sense of panic when I entered the meeting to be met with a group of people, the majority of whom were wearing sweats, that fear settled into a calm. It was then that I realized what kind of community I was joining: a group of college students comfortable enough with each other to be themselves. It would be later that I learned just how deep that comfort ran and the supportive atmosphere that would come with it.
With graduation looming, it feels like every day is moving at triple speed. I, alongside seniors everywhere, grasp every opportunity and moment with friends that we can until it all fades away. Sadness, excitement and anxiety interlock themselves together in my mind, each day a battle between planning for the future and soaking up the final memories I can make in my perfect college town.
On nights when sleep evades me, worries of the changes coming in the future months plaguing my mind, I’ve started to turn to the very action that led me to apply to Strike in the first place: writing.
Whether I finnick with unfinished poems that are only seen by my computer and my own eyes, toy with creative writing pieces I’ve started in the past or grab my pen and journal to write out the very anxieties I face, writing acts as the companion I need in those moments.
My high school creative writing teacher spent a class teaching us about a “graveyard of darlings,” a term that describes a document we should keep containing ideas for writing pieces, different lines we create in our minds we have fear of forgetting or a place to store our unfinished work. My graveyard of darlings has grown throughout these seven years, and the name makes more sense in my head the more time has passed. When writing is such an important pillar in your life, each idea, no matter how developed it may be, really does feel that precious.
My time with Strike Magazine has given me more than I could have ever hoped for when I first joined the team. From the people I’ve met and worked with, the team leaders who have guided me through each issue, the concepts I’ve had the pleasure of basing creative works around and the freedom I’ve been given when writing each blog, I’ve been able to grow as a person alongside my writing skills.
Image Courtesy: Harper Covington
So, thank you, Strike. Thank you for giving me an outlet to express my creativity and ideas in the form of words. Thank you for placing me on a team of talented writers who support and better each and every blog that is written. Thank you for giving me memories I will never forget with that very best friend who helped me get dressed for the first meeting after she returned from Spain and joined the Strike team herself. Thank you for presenting the idea that writing for an artistic lifestyle publication can make me as happy as I have been for the past three years.
Most of all, thank you for showing me that new experiences, as intimidating as they might be at first, can lead to some of the greatest memories I will ever make. I will continue to look into the beauty of my possible future as I write, for the last time:
Strike out,
Ann Harper Covington
Editor: Anna Kadet
Athens