Throughout my four years on the Purbalite, one thing has always been a constant: My love of writing about pop culture. That is not only the reason why I joined the newspaper, but it is the reason why I stayed with it throughout high school. There were too many enticing albums and events which I had to share my opinions about.
I cannot forget to mention the whole reason why I am even on the Purbalite to begin with, which was newspaper sponsor Keith Harrison’s knowledge and appreciation of the experimental hip hop group Death Grips. Harrison’s support of their debut mixtape, Ex Military, really blew my mind as a freshman.
Being able to freely review the music I wanted to throughout my four years on the Purbalite has been both a gift and a curse.
I was finally able to share my opinions on music with others, while also informing those who were not in the scene about upcoming artists both local and global. On the other hand, I often struggled to say everything I wanted in the standard review length of 200 to 300 words. But eventually I learned to appreciate the simplicity in the review length.
From the huge amount of stories I have written on so many different topics for the Purbalite, nothing has felt quite as right as covering music does.
If it was not for my niche music taste and insufferable music opinions, I would never have met Harrison or really have had any interest in the newspaper. Two Best of School Newspapers Online awards and so many shortened reviews later, here I am saying farewell to the Purb and the four years I have spent on it.
