Finding your own creative outlet in college is crucial

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In high school, I always found myself joining any club I could that would provide me with a creative outlet. I took a creative writing class (twice) just for fun, I joined the creative writing club, and even began a newsletter for my school called the Bulldog Bulletin. These opportunities offered me a space to explore my love for writing outside of an academic setting, but when I came to college I lost this space.

When I began my freshman year at Geneseo, I fully intended to join the Creative Writing Club at Geneseo and become a regular weekly member, yet when I attended a meeting it just did not click for me. I felt like I was only going to club meetings out of obligation, not for my own personal enjoyment.

Next, I submitted some of my creative work to the school's literary magazine, Gandy Dancer, but still found this to be lacking, since it was essentially a “one and done” submission. While these writing opportunities may be perfect for someone else and they are fantastic opportunities, they were just not fulfilling the space that I needed. 

I began to write less in my free time because of how often I was writing for my various English literature classes, and started to believe that I simply grew out of my love for writing, but this was entirely false.I had simply lost a structured outlet for my writing, which I learned is something that I enjoy very much. This is where The Lamron comes into view, as I first joined the newspaper in the second semester of my freshman year. I initially found the paper through a column often done in the Arts & Entertainment section called “the Writer’s Spotlight.” 

I submitted a poem to the column and it was accepted and published, and the following week they happened to be looking for new section editors. I had little knowledge of The Lamron at the time, so I showed up to my interview looking to fill any position they had open. I ended up becoming the Knights’ Life Editor, a section I grew to love very dearly.

At first glance, one may not see a campus newspaper as an opportunity for creativity, even in writing format, and may think that everything must be intensely structured and fact-based—but this is not strictly the case.

Every week since I joined The Lamron, I have had the opportunity to write quite literally whatever I wanted. An opinion article ranting about how people are pretending to be busier than they actually are or why HayDay is the best game on the app store? Sure! Or an Arts & Entertainment article comparing Sex and the City (1998-2004), Girls (2012-2017), and The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021-2024)? Why not!

I learned that I could write anything, and this is exactly what I needed to fill the creative writing gap outside of my academics. Joining The Lamron even led me to begin writing poetry again in my free time without feeling like I was doing it out of obligation.

All of this is to say that it is so vital for you to find your creative outlet while you still have the time at college. Geneseo provides students with so many opportunities, even things outside of clubs, and you likely will not have these resources at your fingertips after graduation. I may be biased, but if you are looking for a creative writing outlet, The Lamron is a great place to start.