Mairead Poulin ’13 is the current Editor-in-Chief of The Willistonian. She likes coffee, Italian Greyhounds, the occasional thunderstorm, and speaking her mind. Her column, From The Editor’s Desk, is published weekly.

When I was little, I was a pathological liar. I have distinct memories of creating the most outlandish, completely impossible stories, and sharing them with the adults in my family (who surely must have known that I was telling tall tales). I attribute this unattractive hobby to my love for telling stories. And once I graduated to scribbling, and later typing, out my stories (instead of passing them off as the truth), I formed a distinct definition of writing: the sharing of the details of a story in a way that made people want to read it. I figured that this made me a lover of “creative writing” – someone who specializes in fiction. But when I came to Williston as a freshman, I realized that my love for telling stories could translate into another form of writing: student journalism.

We all come into contact with news in our lives, whether we mean to or not. In my house, the nightly news is always on while my mom cooks dinner, and my dad leaves the newspaper spread out on the counter (the sports section usually missing by the time I find it). Even the homepage of our desktop computer directs me to the top Yahoo stories of the hour. It goes without saying that news is important; without journalism, we wouldn’t be informed about what is going on in the world around us and how it impacts us. A student newspaper shares this information like any other news source does. But what makes the Willistonian different is that it tells our story.

The Willistonian is written primarily by the students, for the students. It’s the place where we share our story; we write about what we think is important, whether it be a recap of the latest basketball team win or an opinion piece on the new school rules. It preserves our thoughts, feelings, and opinions for future generations. When we leave Williston, the articles written during our time here for the newspaper will serve as our history; they will tell our story to those who will come after us, who will undoubtably want to know what made those classes of the 2010’s so darn awesome. This story is ours; it’s what we want to make it. Just like the newspaper.

Ironically, my job on the Willistonian editorial board goes against my childhood hobby; I’m supposed to bring nothing but the truth to the Williston community, working with the rest of our staff and writers to bring in different perspectives on what’s going on around campus and beyond. Our newspaper is one of the only (and most important) outlets for this kind of information; we print what matters to you, the students, and provide as much information on all desired topics as we possibly can. When I look back on my years at Williston, I can without a doubt say that they will be strongly anchored by writing and editing for the Willistonian, and how proud I am of the paper’s accomplishments. My story is the paper. And yours – whether it be that basketball win, or what you thought when you first found out you needed to sign out to get a coffee off campus – is too.