Alessia Baptista is a fourth-year student majoring in English. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Mike Publications, the official bi-weekly student newspaper at St. Michael’s College since 1947. Post-graduation, she plans to further her education by pursuing a Master’s Degree in Journalism, Media, or a related field.
It all started on my Welcome Day, June 8, 2019, when I was walking through Brennan Hall and noticed The Mike’s banner outside of what is now the Campus Ministry Office. I remember getting so excited that there was a campus newspaper that I took a photo of the banner (which I still have). Naturally, I went home and checked The Mike’s website to learn more about how I could get involved and was devastated to see applications for the Masthead were closed. It was at that moment I promised myself I wouldn’t miss next year’s applications.
In the meantime, though, I tried to be part of The Mike in my first year as a contributor. I remember picking up an article for the Opinion section about whether U of T’s college book sales were beneficial to students. This was when The Mike broke my heart: the article was rejected, and rightfully so. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know the first thing about writing an article or being in a newspaper, let alone how to write for an Opinion section.
The article that did make it to publication was my first-ever Feature for The Varsity about how caffeine affects students. If you know anything about campus publications, Features articles are the longest since they’re comparable to an essay and, more often than not, students are the least inclined to write for this section due to the length required. With the help of Stephanie, the Features Editor at the time, I finally had an article make it past the writing process and I learned more about how to write for a newspaper.
It was only upward from here: in 2020, I kept my promise to myself and applied to be the Lifestyle Editor at The Mike. I was acclaimed to the position, and that’s where my editorial journey began. While The Mike moved to online publication due to COVID, I had an amazing experience working with Chiara, the Editor-in-Chief of The Mike in 2020-2021. I’d met with her a few times to further educate myself about newspaper production in hopes that one day, ’d be lucky enough to hold a higher position at The Mike. Last year, I had the pleasure of being the Managing Editor for 2021-2022 during another year of remote production.
Fast forward to today and I am currently the Editor-in-Chief for the 75th volume of The Mike. I am especially honoured to hold this position as we celebrate 75 years of publishing student voices, written by SMC students, for the St. Mike’s community and beyond. It warms my heart knowing that I am lucky enough to be a part of something so impactful. Seeing students pick up a copy of each issue, hearing their excitement as they anticipate the next crossword, and working with an amazing team of editors makes all the late-night emails and endless edits worthwhile. You’ll never catch me without a newspaper in my hands or in my backpack, be it The Mike, the latest issue of The Varsity, or even The Strand from Victoria College. I believe it’s especially important for students to have their voices and opinions heard, and I’m grateful every day that I can provide an outlet for expression through contributions in The Mike.
If you can’t already tell, I love what I do at The Mike. As stressful as it may be running a bi-weekly newspaper on top of my studies, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Being a part of student journalism has significantly improved my writing skills, taught me time management, and enhanced my attention to detail. Above all, it’s helped me realize that I’d like to consider pursuing a career in journalism or media.
Before coming to university, I was fixated on coming to U of T to study Kinesiology, the exact opposite of my current degree. The switch happened when I decided to pursue a major in a subject I’m stronger in, since Math is one of my weaknesses. Growing up, I always loved to read and write–I was the kid who always had a book on her desk in school, got in trouble for staying up and reading at night, and wrote stories in her spare time. My love for writing was always there but being a part of student publications has exposed me to a whole new world of writing beyond creative writing (and, admittedly, I am an awful fiction writer).
The first step to becoming a good writer is to just start. So many students tell me they’re afraid to write articles because they aren’t good at it. I always tell them my story in the hopes that they can hear about how I wasn’t that great at writing, but that I didn’t let that stop me. Even still, I’m constantly improving the way I write, because if there’s one thing about writing, you can edit as much as you want, but you’ll almost never achieve the perfect final piece. There will always be room for improvement, and I think that’s one of the things I love most about what I do. Writing will never go away; there’s always going to be a story to tell. Whatever your story is, or whatever topic interests you, I hope you find the confidence to just start and take a chance on yourself.
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