It might be hard for anyone to believe this, but it took me a while to really find a love for CHIPS.
My first year had COVID, so that really put a damper on everything — Zoom meetings and what have you. Sophomore year I got death threats on YikYak after our Fall print issue, which killed the vibe for the rest of the year. Junior year I really struggled with burnout, amid constant rumors of CHIPS being cut by administration and the stress of managing my academics, my music, my sport, and my job.
So on the first CHIPS meeting of this year, my senior year, I was a nervous wreck. As Editor-In-Chief, I was in charge. I had only four returning staff members. There were a bunch of new people who had no prior knowledge of journalism and had never written a news story, ever. To cap it all off, I ambitiously decided to completely redo the structure of CHIPS by changing our meeting times, our posting schedule, our use of social media and our overall focus as a news publication.
Well, color me surprised that this year, CHIPS has been the absolute time of my life.
Right away in Fall semester, it quickly became apparent to me that CHIPS had become my baby, so to speak. I was not going to let anything happen to it, and I was going to help it grow into the best possible version of itself. What I did not anticipate was the pride I would develop in CHIPS this year by watching my staff improve their journalism skills; as we got better and better, more and more people around Luther started paying attention to us.
Our first print issue came out in December; some people told they didn’t know CHIPS even did that anymore. Our posts on social media got more and more likes. I saw students around campus that I would never believe in a million years to pick up a newspaper, and actually read our stories because they were interested in what was written — not just because they were looking for the joke articles.
I left to study abroad during January. Again, I was a mess. I left the organization in the very capable hands of Ethan Kober, but J-Term is a different beast. The workload of a J-Term course sneaks up on you, and I was not going to be there to oversee everyone’s work — so, naturally, I was super anxious. However, I had nothing to worry about; I woke up daily in South Africa beaming with pride as new CHIPS stories appeared in my Instagram feed. It made me excited to come back to Decorah, to see what else we could do…and then in February we ran into a wall.
It was as if everyone on my staff had every Professor assign them four assignments at one time. Our content lagged behind; stories were late, edits were late, quotes were missing and photos were an afterthought. A few of our better writers left our staff. A couple that stayed had to take breaks for personal reasons. We briefly rallied to get things going again and made our special Volume 150 print issue, but it was muted due to my poor planning and the lack of stories we had ready for publication. Then, we ended up taking an inadvertent two-week hiatus due to Spring Break and Easter.
At this point, the burnout was starting to creep back into my mind.
“Why are you working so hard?” my inner voice said. “It’s spring of your senior year. Coast! Take it easy! Your housemates are blowing off their work to play Brawl Stars, why don’t you do something fun too?”
Thank goodness I ignored my inner saboteur. I was so grateful when April hit, because everyone on staff seemed to hit the reset button. We were back! A couple new writers were willing to jump head first and start writing, and the staff (seemingly telepathically) decided to make a push to the finish.
May is right now! Thank you for reading the print issue that we have worked very hard on.
You might be wondering why I’m recapping this all for you. This is supposed to be an “Opinion” piece, where I tell you a perspective I have and why I think you should have that perspective too. My perspective is this: find something that you learn to love in the same way that I learn to love CHIPS.
In 20 years, I’m not going to remember what I wrote for CHIPS. I won’t remember what percentage Luther raised their tuition, what Student Senate voted on, which athlete received ARC conference honors, what pipe broke in what dorm building, or what famous person decided to visit Decorah. What I will remember is the people that have made CHIPS so special. The nights in the office doing print, where I’m in the office until 1:41 a.m. and I’m so delusional to the point where anything anyone says makes me crack up. Stopping a meeting every third sentence to write a crude innuendo on the quote board. Our staff pizza parties, or our craziest story pitching days, or the times where our group chat blows up because of a Luther announcement.
These are the things I will remember from CHIPS, long after I have graduated from Luther. The highs and lows, the positives and the negatives, the happy and sad moments, the relaxing days and the days where I’m so stressed I can hardly think. I feel as though this year, my time at EIC has been over in the blink of an eye. I would do anything for four more years at Luther, just so I could keep this love affair with CHIPS going — especially since I feel like I just got to know it so well.
But all good things must come to an end and since this is technically the last thing I will ever write for CHIPS, there are so many people I have to thank. It’s a 100% guarantee that I will forget someone, since I’m actively writing this 9 minutes before our print deadline, so I’m very sorry if I leave anyone out. But, thank you to all the CHIPS editors that came before me. Thank you to Olivia and Kyle, for introducing me to CHIPS way back in 2020 and taking a nervous, quiet first-year under your wings. Thank you to Ursula and James, for welcoming me into CHIPS despite a global pandemic. Thank you to Jack, for being a friend at CHIPS and at Luther, and being a role model that I could learn from.
Thank you to Ethan, for becoming a dear friend of mine and for becoming my right-hand man at CHIPS. Thank you to Christy, for answering my journalism questions 24/7, and for advising the staff and I continuously despite your personal challenges. Thank you to David, for supporting me as a mentor and growing my love for journalism — and of course, for not firing me after I put CHIPS on the campus blacklist during sophomore year.
I want to thank all of my current staff. I have been blown away by your dedication to CHIPS all year long, and admire your perseverance and commitment to student journalism. I am so proud of each and every one of you, and can’t wait to see what you all accomplish — whether that be at CHIPS or in your own personal lives.
In true Editor-In-Chief fashion, I close by offering some advice. Ava — you are a natural leader, so trust your voice. Niamh — you are very talented, so don’t be afraid to flex a bit! Chloe — your commitment to others is admirable, but don’t forget to prioritize your own needs.
As many have said before me, “Let the chips fall where they may.”
Thanks, Luther — it’s been real.
Peter Heryla, CHIPS Editor-In-Chief, 2023-2024
