This article originally appeared on page 2 of the No. 5 April 2025 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
By Cassidy Haines, Magazine Editor
When I first enrolled at Gettysburg College, I had no idea what a ride I was in for: the only certainty was my quickly-declared English major with a writing concentration. After a first year filled with anxiety, I began to branch out during my sophomore year, when I signed up for as many writing-related opportunities at the activities fair as I could find. Since then, nothing has stuck as much as The Gettysburgian: when I became a copyeditor for the news, features, A&E and opinions sections, I was beyond excited, since I have always loved editing essays, but I would never have expected to continue further than that.
Magazine Editor Cassidy Haines ’26 (Sofia Gutierrez/The Gettysburgian)
As I branched out with The Gettysburgian, I did the same all around campus: I joined my sorority, got involved with The Mercury (Gettysburg’s student-run art and literary magazine) and even found a job in our wonderful English department. I still wanted to be more involved, so I applied for the social media manager role in fall 2023 and began creating the crosswords during spring 2024; by fall 2024, I became the assistant magazine editor, teaching myself how to use Adobe InDesign in the process.
This semester, I’m lucky enough to have taken on two of my favorite positions yet: magazine editor for our newspaper and chapter president of Sigma Sigma Sigma. Between English classes and a packed extracurricular schedule, working on The Gettysburgian every month to design the magazine has been a (surprisingly?) relaxing way to let my creative side out. Thanks to The Gettysburgian, I have been given the chance to grow out of my comfort zone and leave a mark on our campus in a way I never thought possible.
In this month’s magazine, we discuss growth on our campus in an article on some of the newest clubs on campus, highlight good news in a piece on the restoration of Quarry Pond by our own Center for Public Service and even answer the question of why our buildings have the names they do. We also spotlight a vocal senior recital and look at the history of activism on our campus (share student perspectives on the latest Honor Code changes), along with a few other exciting features and opinions.
As March comes to a close, remember that April showers bring May flowers — despite the clouds, good things are still to come. I hope you enjoy the latest edition of our magazine.
Yours sincerely,
Cassidy Haines
