I’ve always been against sappy goodbye articles due to my terminally sarcastic personality. However, I think my journey with the Ram is extremely unique and might inspire at least one person reading this to follow in my footsteps. Whenever people think of the Ram, the last thing they think of is business. As a freshman at the club fair, I was just as clueless as everyone else. I had finally arrived at the Ram stand after perusing the gym for a few hours. Everyone already started packing up, and all that was left was a flier for The Fordham Ram Business Team. I had no idea that it was for a newspaper, but I decided to send them an email regardless.
A few weeks later, I attended the first business team meeting with the previous Business Director, Aidan Youngs, and a few other returning members. We did a quick icebreaker and then went over the merchandise project that was continued from the previous semester. At this point, I still had no idea that I was attending a meeting for a newspaper, but the quote that my dad branded into my head was, “Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave,” from the movie “Madagascar.” So that’s exactly what I did. I sat in a meeting with people I didn’t know to work on a project I knew nothing about. Not a single original thought was produced besides, “Yeah that sounds great!” when asked about my opinions on tote bags. I left the meeting feeling excited to finally be a part of something related to my major and couldn’t wait for the next meeting. A few weeks went by without another business team meeting, and then I ran into Aidan and another member at the school gym to find out that there was an issue with the email list and that I missed every meeting since the first one. With that issue solved, I was able to attend two more meetings before staff applications rolled around. There were two options to apply for, Business Director or Advertising Staff. Naturally, I chose Advertising Staff as a young, humble freshman.
It wasn’t until the day before my interview that I found out exactly what The Fordham Ram is. After a simple Google search, I concluded that The Fordham Ram Business Team wasn’t an independent student-run marketing club. In fact, it was the school’s longest running student journal. With this new discovery, I knew that I had lost the job before I even interviewed for it. However, I had previously worked as a caddy for four years and specialized in the art of getting my nose brown.
Interviews for staff positions were held on Zoom, and this was my very first interview as a college student. I went through the interview making up stories and ideas of how to improve the Ram and the business team. Even with my background, I could tell that they knew I was clueless. I proceeded to close my laptop after the interview and do the Charlie Brown walk to my room.
A few weeks later, I received an email from the Editor in Chief that listed the new staff positions similar to how a middle school announces roles in the school play. It had names listed next to the corresponding positions, and if you didn’t see your name, you didn’t get the part. I scrolled down the email to see that my name was placed next to the Business Director role. In pure disbelief, I shut my laptop and called my dad to ask him what to do. To no surprise, he said, “Just smile and wave.”
The point of this story isn’t to convey the idea that you can be lucky and obtain a leadership position in which you have little-to-no experience in, but it’s a story that will hopefully encourage you to pursue something even if you have no idea what’s going on.
During my two years as the Ram’s Business Director, I have learned so much from professors, students, local business owners and other journals that I would have never had the opportunity to encounter without my position in the Ram. This position alone has landed me two other e-board positions, a job, an internship and a spot on the Rambearables’ intramural volleyball roster. I can safely say that up to this point, I have learned more about myself and this world from being involved in activities outside of class than I have in the classroom. A majority of my professional experiences and personal relationships have stemmed from this fortunate happenstance, and I will continue to walk blindly down different paths.
I strongly encourage everyone reading this silly story to care about everything you do, or at least act like you care because you never know where it might lead you.
Or to put it more simply, in the wise words of Skipper, “Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave.”
