The best teacher I ever had once told me he thought I would end up at Fordham University. I would often sit in his classroom instead of going to the cafeteria for lunch because that place is the seventh circle of hell for a loner; we would talk about my future, the state of the world and how exhausted we were with my generation. Even when I didn’t want to admit it, I always took his advice when he offered it.
I must confess, I didn’t really believe him about Fordham at first. I hadn’t even considered it yet and I knew nothing about it. But suddenly it became very important that I found out. And that’s exactly what I did.
Well, here I am, Horvath! He was right again, much to both my chagrin and pride.
I first joined student journalism at his behest in my sophomore year of high school and it changed my life. He saw the quiet girl in the back of the English classroom and encouraged her to become a (mostly) confident woman who knew how to handle a room full of student journalists and put together an entire newspaper. Four years later, I’m a first-year in college and I have made The Fordham Ram staff. I have aspirations to be an editor in a publishing house, which I never would have dreamed of if I wasn’t editor-in-chief of a newspaper my senior year of high school.
It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t understand just how much it means when someone like that believes in you when you had never believed in yourself before. It has the power to change not only your own life, but the lives around you, as you become a leader and an example for others. You become bigger than yourself, which is the very best thing to be.
Mr. Horvath was the first adult besides my parents to see real potential in me and foster it in immeasurable ways. I mean, I used to wish I was invisible. Now I find myself actively seeking out positions that make me the very opposite of invisible. He helped me to realize what I’m capable of, that my determination could inspire others much like I was.
As you can probably guess, I’m a big fan of underdogs, and I was overjoyed that The Ram is too, having taken a chance on the scared first-year who showed up ten minutes early to the staff interview.
Being a part of The Fordham Ram has become one of my favorite things here. I love walking into B-52 and feeling comfortable enough to say hi to everyone, to have conversations about sensitive topics that wouldn’t be possible outside those doors. I love having a group of people with common interests to fall back on if I ever need advice going forward in my major. I mostly don’t mind staying until 12 a.m. Wednesday mornings for production because I know my friends will be there right beside me to see it through.
From weird text messages to collaboration on the job to weekend movies, the copy table has become my very own little “Ramily,” and I could not be more grateful.
I guess this is me saying to go after the things you want, even if you’re scared. If you have been thinking about joining a club or activity, go do it. Interview for that position even though you have never interviewed for anything before. It is worth it. And it is magical how you will transform.
We so often let our fears get in the way of our happiness and success: no more. It’s time for all of us to take back our lives, live in the moment. Be ourselves unconditionally.
So I want to say thank you to the copy table. To Sophie, who is our fearless leader. To Jacob, who always makes us laugh. To Emma, who makes sure we’re never bored. And, I suppose, to Jonah, who is just Jonah. Cheers, Volume 107!
Sarah Verrastro, FCRH’28, is an English major from Monroe, Connecticut.
