For as long as I can remember, probably since high school, I’ve wanted to be a part of a school newspaper. Unfortunately, as a college freshman I never got around to it. After being accepted into the a cappella group last fall, school and singing were my two main responsibilities. I was already ecstatic to be a member of Octaves so I kind of put my desire to be a writer for The Aquinas, the University’s student newspaper, on hold.

However, this summer I received a text from one of my fellow singers Emma, the editor of the Arts and Life section for The Aquinas, asking if I wanted to be writer for her section! Knowing I love to write and having read a number of my student blogs throughout the year, Emma thought I’d be a great fit for position. I immediately accepted the offer and couldn’t wait to get started back at school!

Just like in Men and Women for Octaves, the students who run the newspaper are great group of peers to be around. Although editing articles, compiling photos, and designing the layout for all of the sections (such as News, Arts and Life, Science and Tech, Business, Forum and Sports) can be a tedious, stressful process, everyone in the office is always smiling and having a fun time. When I’m not writing articles for Arts and Life, I spend my time copy editing pieces and working on Campus Comment – a segment of Arts and Life that involves asking ten peers a question of the week, taking their photo and placing their quotes underneath. I’ll post a picture soon!

A new edition of The Aquinas is issued every week, but between Campus Comment, school work, singing, etc. I’ve only been able to write two articles: “Students Rave About Local Scranton Restaurants” and “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket Debuts during Family Weekend” (a University play review). But I don’t plan on stopping there! I’m looking forward to publishing more articles throughout the semester! As silly as it may sound, seeing my name printed above a completely original piece, with the exception of quotes, was a really incredible moment.

Now that I mentioned it…two weeks ago The University Players debuted their first play of the semester: “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket”. I haven’t witnessed a Player’s production since fall of last year so I was excited to head into the Royal Theatre for an afternoon. Since I’m someone who’s more interested in musicals, I have a tendency to underestimate how entertaining plays are. The Player’s always prove me wrong! And although the play itself was different from what I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed the production. It is evident that the students, whether they are actors, stage managers, or costume designers, put in countless hours of hard work every week for the show to come together as well as it does. Bravo! I’ll definitely be making a concerted effort to attend more plays this semester.

Hope you all had a lovely Tuesday, and despite the forecast for rain, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week! 🙂

Catherine E. Bombard

Hi! My name's Catherine, but you can call me Catie and I'm a sophomore from Wayne, NJ here at the University of Scranton. I'm an English major, Communication minor hoping to have a career in publishing one day. I'm a member and the publicist of Octaves, an a cappella group on campus, along with being a writer and editor for The Aquinas, the student newspaper. Thanks for checking out the student blogs and I hope you enjoy hearing about my "Scranton Experience"! :)