Salem Off the Record: Three Years at HVCC

The experiences I have had at Hudson Valley Community College I will never forget. There are many people that have helped me get where I am today and for that I am truly grateful.

In the Fall 04 semester I arrived at HVCC fresh out of Scotia-Glenville High School and I didn’t really know what to expect from the whole college experience. There were a few of my friends that joined me at HVCC, but that seemed to be short lived. All of my friends from high school either dropped out of HVCC or left after a few semesters. Somehow I seemed to be the only survivor of the college experience after my first year.

Near the end of my Spring 05 semester I started to find my niche that I had never even thought about before and that was journalism. Sarah Worden encouraged me to send in my poetry submissions to the creative page, which she recently reinstalled then, which lead me to writing an article here and there. At the end of the semester she asked me if I would be interested in the Creative Page Editor position for the next school year, because she was going to be leaving her position to become Editor of the paper. I felt very honored that she wanted me to take over her position and I loved poetry, so I figured why not. To this day the decision I made then has forever changed my whole life. I didn’t realize it at first though, but in time I would see how it truly did.

Being the Creative Page Editor for the Hudsonian during the Fall 05 and Spring 06 semesters was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I gained some great friends and surely had some great times. Once I became the Creative Page Editor I had to write at least one article a week, but that didn’t really excite me at first. I honestly hated the journalism courses I took, but somehow I started to fall in love with it. At first I just did the common CD reviews and what not, but then I started to cover some hard news stories and I got to interview an array of people. My favorite part started to become what I would least expect to be my favorite part, interacting with people. When I joined the Hudsonian I was an extremely shy person, but the paper helped me really open up and confront my fear. Soon, I loved interacting with people and covering stories that concerned people on campus.

After one year of being on the Hudsonian I found out what I hated in class I loved in real life experience. This led me to want to explore a internship in journalism, but sadly this just never seemed to work out during the Fall 06 semester. When I didn’t get an internship I was very disappointed and discouraged from my exploration into journalism. I had so many great experiences on the Hudsonian that I really was looking forward to see what I could learn from an internship. Near the end of the Fall 06 semester I realized I really needed to get back into my journalism endeavors and I started to write for the Hudsonian again as a Staff Writer.

Before my final semester at HVCC started I was offered the Assistant Editor position on the Hudsonian, because the former Assistant Editor would not be returning in the Spring 07 semester. This was a great surprise for me and also a great honor. Being the Assistant Editor of the Hudsonian has also been a great learning experience for me. I really enjoyed being able to have a higher leadership position and help guide the paper. Although, I owe a lot of thanks to Chris Ryerson, because she slaves over the paper and has helped me out a lot.

There are too many people that I need to thank for helping me out through my years at Hudson Valley. If it wasn’t for the help, support, and encouragement I received I don’t know if I would have been able to make it through the three years.

My parents have helped me out and dealt with me more than anyone else. When I had to stay up late at night to finish a paper all night, they would drag me out of bed to make sure I made it to class on time. How much my parents honestly believe I can accomplish whatever I want to do in my life has been more helpful than I could ever ask for. They have never stopped believing in me over all these years and I am sure that they never will stop. My parents truly are my strongest support.

My grandparents have helped me and parents out in more ways than I can even thank them for. They have helped us financially with my college endeavors and their help with me financially is the only reason why I don’t have to work during the college semester and why I was even able to devote so much time to the Hudsonian in the first place. How much my grandparents have inspired me is what has driven me through every semester to try to do the best I possibly can. I really don’t think they know how much they have inspired me, but I really have to thank them for that. My grandparents have always been the light at the end of the tunnel for me.

There have some faculty and staff members on campus that have truly helped me out greatly. First off, the President Andrew Matonak has to be one of the best Presidents any college could have. Matonak is truly compassionate about his involvement on campus to make it the best environment it can possibly be. Alexander Popovics, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Development, I interviewed when he first arrived on campus and he has always been one of the friendliest people on campus. It was great to be walking down the halls of the campus center and see Popovics and have him say how much he liked the poetry I had published that week in the paper. I could tell that Popovics was a great addition to the campus from the day I met him. John F Kennedy, my Liberal Arts Advisor, truly revamped and established some great advisement. Before Kennedy I wasn’t that impressed with the advisement I had received, but Kennedy truly shaped the Liberal Arts advisement to what it needed to be. Leslie Johnson, my Western Civ. I and II professor, was someone that truly helped me out with her courses. Johnson is one of the most understanding and caring teachers I have meet on campus and she truly left an impression on me. Joseph Cardillo was the professor I truly got to know and relate with the best. I took all of my three creative writing courses with him and also my English Comp II course. Cardillo shaped my creative writing into what it is today and I owe him a lot of thanks for that, because he truly helped me reach my potential. I really miss being taught by Cardillo, but we also had some great conversations outside of class and he even taught me some Martial Arts. I don’t know if my Hudson Valley experience could have been the same without him, so I owe him many thanks.

There have been ups and down during my experience at Hudson Valley, but the experience I will never forget as a positive one. I am truly grateful I have met all the people I meet and gained all the friends I have gained. Hudson Valley has made me into something I never really expected to be and I hope that my future at New Paltz can be just as rewarding for me. Sometimes there is only one way to say it best, so thank you everyone!


"Salem Off the Record" is a sub-division of Salem's Sanity dealing with topics that would not normally be discussed in the regular column and are written in a less formal manor. The observations of these non-newsworthy topics are here for your enjoyment and discussion.