Editor-in-Chief Laken Franchetti ’24 (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
My time at The Gettysburgian began in August of 2021, just a few weeks before I was due to arrive on campus for my first year. I began in the Class of 2025 and then managed to set myself on a path to graduate a year early. Now I am graduating with the Class of 2024, and I only have two semesters left at Gettysburg.
During that summer of 2021, I had reached out to the Editor-in-Chief and expressed interest in writing for the school newspaper. I had never done anything like it before, but I was set on making this my “thing.” To me, it seemed like everyone had that club or sport that defined a large aspect of who they were, and I wanted something that could be that for me. After writing my first piece and seeing it published on the website, I knew that The Gettysburgian was just that.
In my second semester at Gettysburg, I gained a seat on the editorial board as Assistant News Editor. During my semester abroad, I will admit that I missed the weekly meetings in Plank 103, yet when I returned this past spring, I jumped right back in as News Editor. Now, in my culminating year at Gettysburg, I am so thankful to be taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief.
Each one of us has had a unique experience here at Gettysburg. I have had an unconventional path towards an accelerated graduation date, yet I was still able to have the experiences that I craved. The Gettysburgian did become my thing, and I am eternally grateful that it did.
This magazine discusses some of the experiences that students can find themselves taking part in on campus, like the new Guided Pathways program for first-years and Bright’s Interfaith Community Chapel Program. We also highlight Director of International Student Services Brad Lancaster and ask seniors to share what their own unique experience at Gettysburg has meant to them. We look at developing conversations surrounding AI and the future of race-conscious admissions at Gettysburg.
As you read through this issue, reflect on your time at Gettysburg and the experiences that made it a unique (and possibly unconventional) path to now. If you find yourself not knowing what your “thing” may be, I implore you to find it. Somewhere, hidden between the battlefields and Penn Hall, you are bound to find what could define your time here at Gettysburg.
Laken Franchetti ’24
Editor-in-Chief
The Gettysburgian
This article originally appeared on page 2 of the October 2023 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
