Moving forward

By Janis McMath, Editor-in-Chief

Bill Belichick is an icon for a long list of well-deserved reasons, but my personal favourite moment of his is the stoic line many know him for: “We’re on to Cincinnati.” In response to a barrage of questions about the Patriots’ failures, Belichick intentionally leaves reporters without a response to nitpick later in their pieces. And this mentality—one that never dwells on past failures without moving onto the next venture with gusto—is an essential one for members of our newspaper collective.

With a weekly paper, there’s no choice but to move forward. Living in the present and learning from your past failures rather than letting them depress you and impact your ability to fully take on your next opportunity to succeed is a great lesson that working for a student newspaper offers. (Also, having your failures published permanently to stare you in the face can be turned into a great motivation tool for improvement in the next week.)

A student newspaper can sharpen your skills as a writer, illustrator, photographer, and editor by pushing you to do a creative personal project every single week. Prospective members always say: “I’m not ready for a responsibility like that; I need practice first!” This paper is the place to practice and improve—which ties in with another idea behind Belichick’s mantra: discuss your failures internally and with those you trust. The Pats are famous for the culture this legendary coach has created where all issues are dealt within the team and the players present a united front. Similarly, at the Other Press and other student newspapers, you’ll get feedback and help from people you trust. This isn’t a BlogSpot where randos can come and go and crap all over your meaningful and well-thought out article about your passion projects. We’re all a team here so we’re all looking to help each other improve for the sake of the paper and our community.

COVID-19 definitely shook things up here at the paper, but we’re looking to have some virtual meetings this semester and will hopefully offer other social opportunities! In a lot of ways, being online only affords us new and exciting creative prospects—and you should be a part of it! So, write for the Other Press today and become a part of our team (or just stay in the loop!); you can contribute as often or as little as you like! Email editor.otherpress@gmail.com if you have any questions about getting started!

On to Cincinnati,

Janis McMath