Medley, Spring 2011

Slowly but surely, I will update this blog.

I almost decided not to return to Medley for the spring semester. Working for both Medley and The Onondagan proved to be tougher than I ever expected and by winter break I was a little burnt out. But I decided to stick with it, and am so glad I did. My schedule wasn't as hectic so I was able to devote time to both publications and my classes without feeling overwhelmed. We changed things up a bit by hiring assistant editors to help the senior editors and it really made all the difference. Luis, our fantastic art director, pulled through yet again. I'm so grateful for him! He helped us not only redesign the way the magazine looks but how it reads. He suggested dividing the magazine into sections and was persistent & unrelenting in his decisions; Kirsten and I were originally opposed to the Aid Across the Map vertical layout, but he convinced us it would work and now I absolutely love it. I learned so much from his constructive criticism, insight, and talent. Our spring 2011 issue is the best-looking to date, in my opinion.

There were still quite a few bumps along the road (one was for the best--our cover/photo story about SU Korean drumming group Cheon Ji In is the result of a writer dropping her story. And the complimentary back photo = phenomenal!), but we managed to overcome them and produce a beautiful issue with great content, great photos. The two features, Somewhere I Belong, and The Kids Are All Right are so representative of Medley's theme. It's all there in those two pieces. For Somewhere I Belong, Kirsten profiled Alanah, a Hispanic girl who was born in Kenya and lived in several other countries during her life, finally settling (for now) in Syracuse. The piece discusses both the benefits and the struggles Alanah has experienced because of her nomadic life. The Kids Are All Right discusses gay parenting through the lens of two Syracuse students who have gay parents. It's such a great piece, even though it's already slightly outdated! Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York! I also contributed another short piece about Verbal Blend, this time choosing to focus on their newly formed p-board (poets' executive board) and the direction they hope to take in the future.

Medley was a great experience and I wish I had more time with it! Sometimes I feel I could have done more. Fortunately, we've left the magazine in great hands. Medley is young but I feel so strongly about the content we cover and can't wait for more people to take notice and to see how it will grow.

Keep up with Medley on Issuu.

Medley

Open publication - Free publishing - More diversity

Medley is dedicated to providing a forum for students to explore cultural differences and its manifestations on campus, in the city of Syracuse, and abroad.

So the new semester started and I still haven't updated about Medley, as promised. Figured I should do this now, as I've already met with Kirsten (Editor in Chief) and Luis (Art Director--he's fantastic, we got so lucky) to discuss what worked, what didn't work last semester, and the schedule for the spring issue. I joined the staff spring semester of freshman year, fact checked and copy edited for a year and a half before I went abroad fall semester of junior year, and came back last spring as a senior editor. But my managing editor position last semester has been the most challenging of all the positions, of course, and also the most challenging thing I've done during my four years at SU. I guess I underestimated the difficulty of balancing the position with four challenging classes (and a position as an editor for the SU yearbook). Being managing editor at Medley is different (than those of most publications in the "real world") in that, in addition to the typical duties required of one, such as creating the editorial schedule, managing the budget, or following up with editors and writers, due to our small staff, it also encompasses editing, writing, fact checking, copy editing, coming up with display copy, design ideas, etc etc etc. Basically, EVERYTHING, lol. I feel like a part of me is in a part of every bit of the issue, every story, because I had pretty much the final say in everything (along with Kirsten), from where the comma is placed in one story, to what topics we chose to write about, and the cover photo (which I love, love, love. The back cover too). Everything. It's a really good feeling.

At the same time, I wrote a profile about the Muslim Students' Association at SU (pg. 16). This also provided many challenges and really, I have to give a lot of credit to Kirsten and the two senior editors, Kathleen and Maria, for helping me shape this story. When we first sat down in September to discuss story ideas, I suggested a story that addressed, in some way, the "Ground Zero mosque" issue that gained much attention last summer. Or a story that discussed the college experience for Muslim-American students in the US. Kind of ambitious, and it didn't work out. But I started that angle by interviewing the president of the Muslim Students' Association, the vice-president, and the former president of MSA and current board member of the local mosque. By then, I decided I found my focus: the organization. I couldn't really emphasize within the 750 word limit how great the three guys are. I truly enjoyed spending time with them; they're extremely funny and down-to-earth, and today I consider them (especially Azhar and Ismail), good friends. They gave me tons of information and were so enthusiastic and genuinely appreciative for my interest, that I took the time to find out more about their organization. While reporting for the story, I also met the imam of the local mosque mentioned in the story, who was very friendly, honest, and willing to answer any questions I had. He gave me copies of the Quran (including one in Spanish! lol, it's actually quite beautiful) to keep and pamphlets to read to help broaden my understanding of the religion. I also attended jumu'ah one Friday at the mosque, and sat with the MSA secretary, Haseeba. Haseeba went out of her way to make sure I was comfortable and understood what I was listening to and watching (the service is in Arabic). The women and men are separated--the women have to sit in the upper balcony of the small mosque. Women of all ages and backgrounds sat or kneeled with their children in the small space. I also wore a hijab (required of all women in a mosque), which, I mean, I don't want to make it sound like it's a big deal overall, because it's not. But it was my first time, and I definitely felt different. I should add that the final sentence of my story as seen above is not the final version. I think the above is literally the 2nd to final version before we sent the issue to print. I had such a difficult time with the conclusion! But it ended up being: "Although many Muslims around the world face criticism for creating places of worship, Syracuse offers a welcoming community."

I'm really proud of this issue. Medley has only been around for a few years and is still a work in progress compared to the other publications on campus. But we are definitely on the right track. We received a really great response from people on campus for this fall issue, and I'm excited to increase awareness about a magazine that covers topics, people, and places really important for students and the community to know about. And though this is my last semester and Medley is just beginning to grow and improve editorially and visually, it makes me excited to know that we can leave a sort of legacy.

"The funniest part is he has three whole albums. I only have one full album and I've been a musician for 20 years."
- Adam Gold, member of Sophistafunk/co-owner of Funk N' Waffles/ToTs' roommate

For two weeks I worked, for what seemed, endlessly on a feature story for our music magazine on campus, 20 Watts. It's a profile on Michael Heagerty, a local Syracuse rapper. I did several interviews with him, his family members and his friends and also went to see him perform at Funk N' Waffles, a fun cozy waffle joint/concert venue near campus. I actually knew him before I decided to take on the story and it was really great talking to him and learning more about his rapping and life in general. It's been fun but also ridiculously time-consuming. I seriously did not focus on anything else these past two weeks but doing the interviews, research, making sure the words sound right... writing is such a stressful process for me sometimes, but as I've said many times before it's always worth it . I'm really excited to see it published. It's the longest piece I'll have published to date! (1,800 words) so this is huge for me and I'm really happy about it and hope everyone likes it too. I think the issue will be released towards the end of March. I'll definitely post about it when it is :)