Column | My Nora Ephron-style love letter to student journalism

During my college career, I wrote for The Pitt News, Pittsburgh City Paper and 90.5 WESA, and discovered one of my favorite films — “When Harry Met Sally.” Just like the characters in the film, I realize that for me and student journalism, this is the end of a beautiful friendship. 

Dear Student Journalism,

I love that over four years, I have accumulated hundreds of recorded interviews that now sit in a folder on my laptop. Someday, I will listen to them again and try to remember them fondly, but cringe every time I hear myself start with, “Hey, how’s it going?” 

I love the nights I spent burning the midnight oil to make a deadline, a forest of empty Diet Coke cans on my desk and the classical music station playing in my headphones. 

I love that the day after I started interning for 90.5 WESA, I tested positive for COVID-19. I didn’t want to waste any time, so instead of delaying my first week, I worked from bed with resolve — and tissues stuffed up my nose. I was obviously unable to go into the station, so I grabbed my Marantz and tried to find a quiet place to record my segment for air. That ended up being my bathtub. 

I love that no matter how many articles I’ve written, I still get butterflies in my stomach when I see my byline published. 

I love being surprised by the people I interview, to have preconceived notions going into a story that get challenged. 

I love that one evening in a student club meeting, I noticed that my article on where to find free menstrual products in Pittsburgh was listed as a resource in a PowerPoint, and my peer hadn’t realized that I wrote it. 

I love my computer charger that’s wrapped in electrical tape and has been tucked in my backpack countless times as I got ready to go out on assignment. 

I love that I started college in 2020, and for the first year, everything was on Zoom. Somehow, that made The Pitt News desk meetings even more precious. They were always the highlight of my week — I would log on after dinner with my parents, laugh with my fellow writers and pitch articles from my childhood bedroom. 

I love that I’ve received emails from community members to thank me for writing an article or to tell me that they learned something from one of my articles. 

I love that, while working on articles, I would leave my room every few minutes to ask a roommate — ”Does this sentence make sense?” I also love that my roommates never got annoyed with me for doing that. 

I love that I’ve gotten to meet graduate students fighting for a union, youth climate activists, abortion clinic escorts, small business owners, local bands, political candidates, leaders of tenant councils, LGBTQ+ high schoolers, historians, advocates for public transit and formerly incarcerated individuals. 

I love that the first time my voice was on Pittsburgh public radio, I Facetimed my parents and we listened together. Afterwards, my dad got a text from his friend saying, “I just heard India on NPR on my way to work!” 

I love that I still use Oxford commas, and when I finish an article, I have to go through and delete all of them. 

I love the 71B bus that took me to Downtown for my City Paper internship and the 75 bus that took me to the South Side for my 90.5 WESA internship.

I love that when I walked into Pittsburgh City Paper one day and saw the print layout hanging on the wall, I realized that an article I had written was going to be the cover story. The following week, I found newsstands around campus and opened them just to look at it. 

I love the little cafes that I’ve written articles in as the sun got lower and lower in the sky.

I love the friends and mentors I’ve made over the past four years. 

I love that after all this time, I am just as excited about journalism as I was when I started. 

India studies politics, philosophy, gender studies and human rights. She loves magical realism books, Joni Mitchell’s music and class consciousness. You can write to her at ilk18@pitt.edu.