Invasion of Privacy: News Editor Nikolete Michalkow
Photo courtesy of News Editor, Nikolete Michalkow
Michalkow has dedicated countless hours finding national and local news to keep Geneseo students up to date and educated. Her knowledge of news, and fashion advice, will be missed in the office.
As the semester approaches the end, it is time to feature the graduating seniors of our executive board (e-board). One of these is my very good friend, Nikolete Michalkow. She joined The Lamron in the 2024 Spring semester as one of two co-news editors and has been on the executive board ever since.
Michalkow is a senior English (literature) major with a political science minor from Syracuse, NY. She first heard about The Lamron from a classmate who was the former news editor. Along with The Lamron, Michalkow is also a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honors Society on campus. She was not the biggest fan of on-campus activities but quickly found The Lamron to be a rewarding experience.
Originally a member of the class of 2026, Michalkow decided early on in her college career that she wanted to graduate a year early, saying, “I just wanted to see if I could do it. My advisor— shout out [Professor] Fallen —helped me… I took intersession classes, and then I took summer classes twice. Basically, I took all of the classes that you could take.”
Entering her freshman year as an English major, she was unsure of what track she wanted to pursue. “I decided to take all of the classes. I took screenwriting, creative writing, prose literature, literally anything.” Although she decided to pursue the literature track, she received one piece of advice from a creative writing class that stuck with her throughout her academic career.
The class was with Professor Beltz-Hosek, where she told her students, “No one is gonna laugh at you. Say something, say anything, read your stories out loud.” While that was liberal advice because students had to read things they wrote for the class, it also helped Michalkow to open up and express herself.
As she was deciding to graduate a year early, she also decided to add on her political science minor. “Actually, I picked it up because I was watching [the show] Scandal (2012–2018). To be fully honest, I was like [politics] is kind of interesting. And then I found out I could take classes on it!” She found the political science classes at Geneseo interesting enough that she did pick up a minor in the subject.
Although she pointed out that people may think these two subjects do not overlap, she expressed that they have a lot of similarities. “Everything in [The Lamron] correlates back into my major and minor. I use both of them [in the news section] every time I write.”
She had some important academic advice for those continuing their academic career at Geneseo: “Prioritize your work! Go for walks and hang out with your friends, but don’t forget about your work, y’all.”
Overall, she wants to shout out her parents, specifically her mom, for supporting her through her college career and pushing her whenever she struggled. She also gave a shout-out to her dog, Lily, for being her biggest supporter. Her final piece of advice for underclassmen is, “If you’re scared, just do it. Like Nike.”
I met Michalkow through The Lamron when she first joined, and I can confidently say that she has made my time at Geneseo more enjoyable. Without fail, she has brought a smile to my face during every InDesign session, e-board meeting, and office hours. I will miss her immensely next fall— she has left some big shoes to fill!