Position(s): 2023 Managing Arts Editor, 2022 Senior Arts Editor, Daily Arts Writer from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021
Section(s): Arts
Semesters at The Daily: 5
My week has been filled with editor interviews to determine next year’s Arts editors, chats with Laine and Erin about MAE plans for next semester and rounding up blurbs from writers to create a collaborative piece for the TV beat. In the middle of this, I set aside some time to write a goodbye to this community — a freaky feeling, to say the least.
My experience working at the Arts section has been quintessentially Sarah. Inches from quitting the section as a writer, I was pulled back from the abyss by Sophia Yoon (TV SAE at the time), who convinced me that staying, not just as a writer but as the TV beat’s next SAE, wasn’t a totally outrageous idea. Insecure and uncertain, I began my tenure as editor at the start of 2022, and it’s safe to say that this past year has changed me profoundly. I found meaningful friendships, a love for arts criticism and a hunger to pour myself into the job every day with a mix of passion and confidence that play off of each other like a tiny jazz band in my heart. I found my voice. I found my place. And as I brace myself to leave the newsroom for good, I rest easier with the knowledge these memories and feelings will remain with me forever.
Finally, here comes the gratitude, as no woman is an island, though perhaps the Arts desk might be. Thank you, Ally, Sophia and Anya, for hiring me and being patient with my chaos. (I like to think I’ve since pulled myself together.) Thank you, Emmy, my fellow shoot-the-shit-er and magnificent, ever-thoughtful co-editor: We make one hell of a team. Thank you, Sabriya and Lilly: you both have been instrumental leaders and community builders as well as lovely, supportive friends. Thank you, Laine and Erin, for making the future look tea-filled, stylish, hilarious, thought-provoking, fun (festivus) and inclusive (for the rest of us). Thank you, Jacob, for the conversations about nothing and everything. Your passion is contagious. Thanks, Katrina, Mik and Meera, for the production nights filled with perpetual agreements to buy the other boba, impromptu dance rehearsals and other welcome distractions — you guys made the newsroom home. Thank you, Max: It was nice to stand next to you before the meetings and pretend we were two normal dudes, living it up normally (we had no friends). Thank you to all the editors I’ve worked with in 2022; you guys never fail to make me laugh.
Finally, thank you to the TV writers, past and present. At the start of the pandemic when everything moved remote, it was hard to see a future at the beat. It was difficult to get to know each other and collaborate, and there was a drop in the amount of well-produced television coming out. It makes me so proud to see how the beat has stuck around and become a hub for thoughtful criticism, hilarious takes and camaraderie. You amaze me perpetually, I boast about you frequently and I will miss you all dearly. Cheers to the future of TV, and of course, to the future of Daily Arts.