Author bio:
Chloe Gilb is a social media coordinator for the 2025–26 school year. When she is not scrolling Instagram for video ideas, she is probably just petting the nearest dog.
I didn’t step inside the newsroom my first three years of college.
I can’t say exactly that I didn’t feel welcome. Logically, I knew no one was actually going to tell me to leave; and if there was a stare, it would probably be out of curiosity and not judgement.
But any non-affiliated journalism major will tell you — that place feels completely forbidden.
I reached out to join Mustang Media Group a handful of times in my first three years, but never in the right ways. A random email to the editor-in-chief when no teams were hiring, or talking to someone boothing at the farmers’ market and thinking that meant I had an in.
By the time my junior year rolled around, I realized it was about time I put my skills to use. I applied (the right way) for a social media coordinator position and anxiously awaited my fate.
No one was anxious but me. Gabrielle Ottaviano and Archana Pisupati, the current and previous social media managers, approached me unprovoked, to congratulate me for applying and expressed their excitement to speak with me. The interview felt more like making a new friend.
And so my job began — filming, editing, writing, creating, posting and double-clicking — and I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.
So while I expected my senior year in MMG to bring the comfort of finally taking a seat at the newsroom table, I gained much more than that: a team I both admire and enjoy being part of, an extensive social media portfolio, a deeper passion for journalism and media, a sense of belonging and, most importantly, a million new friends.
As cliché as it sounds, it really is the people who make the place, and Mustang Media Group is full of incredible ones. I am immensely grateful that, even as a senior, I was welcomed with open arms. Almost instantly, I felt at home at a table I had just taken my seat at.
It’s never too late to try something new. Make a new friend, take a class in a subject you know nothing about and keep looking for stories everywhere you go. Your fears are never as scary as you perceive them to be. Try and fail and try again. Walk into the newsroom. I promise, no one actually cares.
And if you just got here too, I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you.