Give Dougy a Chance

By Chandler Walter, Editor-in-Chief

I was like you once.

I was some half-dedicated General Studies student who attended Douglas College because it was close by and a lot cheaper than going straight to SFU or UBC.

It’s no secret that Douglas College is, for the most part, a transfer school. Many students spend two years here before taking off into the horizon of sunnier skies and more “respectable” institutions, and no one really blames them. There are bachelor’s programs offered here, but they are few and far between.

I was in the exact same spot that many of you are likely in about four years ago. I’d just finished up a year off after high school—which was mostly spent drinking and delivering pizza—and I first came to Douglas simply because it was something to do. I took easy classes, got mediocre grades, and never really considered myself to really be a part of this school.

Hell, I didn’t even get my associates degree before heading off to Langara College in Vancouver—which, ironically, is another transfer school in and of itself.

What I did do while I was here, however, was write a bunch of dumb humour articles for the Other Press—which was probably the best decision I ever made. That launched me into the world of student journalism, which then decided my career path, and eventually landed me my first big-boy job that doesn’t have anything to do with pizza (unfortunately).

What I’m unsuccessfully trying to get across here, dear Reader, is that I made the seemingly unfathomable decision to join a group of fellow students at Douglas College. It was something I never thought I’d do, but they somehow got me into the meetings, signed me up for actual staff positions, and now here I am penning a Lettitor.

That all happened because I took a drunken leap of faith and sent an email to the then Editor-in-Chief, Natalie Serafini, asking how I could get my work published.

I get it, joining a club or group at Douglas College may seem pointless if you know you’ll be out of here in a few semesters, but I promise you it’s worth the time and effort. Clubs Days are happening this week at both campuses (see the News article in this issue for more info) and there’s plenty of great groups of people that are not just accessible, but passionate about what they’re doing.

Sure, publicly caring about things might have seemed lame in high school, but you only need to get past that indifferent way of thinking to find that there’s a lot of awesome people and things to discover here at Douglas.

Or you can just go back to drinking your coffee and scoffing at everyone else at this school who’s, you know, actually engaging. It’s entirely up to you.