Cole Trebelhorn ’20 – Former Editor-in-Chief

First and foremost, I am honored to be able to contribute once again to the pages of the Gustavian Weekly. It’s been a couple of years, a couple of varied, and I might even call them formative years. I’d like to thank this year’s staff for inviting me to contribute again. Some of you might know me, and many may not. I proudly graduated in 2020, I had the unique and—brace yourselves—unprecedented experience of graduating during a global pandemic. Not only was navigating classes and finals a wild ride, but attempting to lead a group of nearly 35 incredible peers was equally, if not more challenging during the final few months of the 2019-2020 school year.
My time with the Gustavian Weekly began in 2017 as a sophomore. I primarily wanted to be involved on campus, contribute to the Gustavus community, find valuable work experiences on campus, and most of all challenge myself. I was willing to learn and willing to fail while trying so “graphics editor” was it. For the 2017-2018 school year, I learned how tight-knit the Weekly team was and saw firsthand that journalism was alive and well among our team, burrowed down in the CoEd basement.
A year later I returned to campus as a Junior but this time a couple weeks early to campus, and in-charge of nearly 40 staff members.
“Editor-in-Chief”. I hardly even knew what that title meant, and what I had to do. Of course, I knew what I had to do: run the paper. But, what would that entail?
Realistically, I had no idea what was ahead of me. I thought I did, but it was overwhelming at first. All summer I orchestrated the building blocks leading into the new school year, compiled the Weekly staff, and prepared as much as I could. Taught myself journalism standards, familiarized myself with the APA guidelines beyond what a typical student used in their classes and interacted with Gustavus faculty. The Weekly’s advisor, Glenn Kranking, absolutely deserves a standing ovation for his dedication and continued passion in seeing the Weekly is successful. Without his expertise, experience, relentless support, and his stout advocacy, the Weekly likely wouldn’t exist, just as with so many college campus’ across the nation.
I digress. If you aren’t familiar, the Weekly staff moves onto campus early to compose the “Orientation Issue”. Hopefully the First-years love it.
Those first couple of weeks on campus before the official move in date were, and are, so critical to team bonding and allowing us all to get our feet wet. I had little training prior to this and I really embraced jumping into the fog. It was so fun.
I really believe many individuals climb Ring Road to the Gustavus campus without a clue of what they’re going to do with themselves. Certainly, many may know what field they want to go into, classes they may want to take, sports and activities they want to pursue, or a major they might want to study. However,I would wager that a Gustie or two found themselves graduating four years later, a changed, and perhaps an improved person.
Gustavus has this unique thing where everyone feels compelled to be a part of so many things. Is it good? Is it bad? Maybe. Is it challenging? For many, probably. It was for me. However, to be challenged and put yourself in that environment of growth doesn’t require you to stretch yourself thin—don’t burn yourself out. It’s happened to all of us no doubt. But it’s the variety of communities Gustavus offers that allows and pushes us to grow.
I couldn’t have done it without this community. I often argue it’s my experience at the Weekly that changed me most as a person whilst on campus. As Editor-in-chief decisions had to be made, some good, some could have been more thought out. It’s such a cliché, “pushing yourself into uncomfortable experiences lends itself to overwhelming growth”. That’s not easy for everyone. Attempting to lead all these people? That was tough. Who was I to lead a team of journalists? Regardless, I loved it. All hours of the day and night, working with peers I might never have even spoken with, much less given the opportunity to see them contribute to something so much bigger than each of us individually? That was so rewarding.
Then came COVID-19. That was a wild ride. Nobody knew what the hell was going on. What to do, how to do it, where to go—but what am I saying? You all know, you lived it. But unfortunately I never got to really say goodbye to the Weekly, I never was able to thank the many people that unbeknownst to them, meant so much to me and my journey. So, long story short, the Weekly was incredibly formative, and an honor to work with so many amazing individuals. I didn’t necessarily see this being a love letter to the newspaper but I’ll embrace it as such. I owe an enormous thank you to President Bergman for her support of the Gustavian Weekly, and of course, thank you Glenn. Jag har lärt mig så mycket tack vare dig.
I’ll look back fondly at my time not only at Gustavus, but also at the Weekly where I will consider it to be a little piece of home. Thank you Gustavian Weekly!