Steven Morano
Through my three and a half years writing and editing for The Mountain Echo, I have witnessed the transition from an online medium because of the pandemic to a full-fledged monthly newspaper for the students and staff. I have also seen the reach the paper has had on students and professors through both the printing of the newspaper and the production of the stories. Through the interview process in the beginning, the writing and editing of a story to its final layout and printing, writing for the Echo has truly taught me the value that hard work pays off.
Starting as a staff writer my first year at the Mount, I had to navigate the pandemic riddled world and the microcosm it created at the Mount.
Starting off writing for the news and community sections I mainly performed interviews over Zoom, but quickly made my first in-person interview at the Ash Wednesday service in February of 2021. After taking a semester off in the fall of 2021, I was brought back on staff by a friend to write sports.
From there my world grew as I started talking to players, coaches and sitting court side at Mount basketball games when fans were allowed to return to Knott Arena in the winter of 2022.
From my writings in the sports section, I was offered the job of section editor later that summer and began writing for the Emmitsburg News-Journal as the Mount sports beat writer.
At this time, the newspaper started the transition back to hard copy. This process was challenging as all the new editors had to learn the software to layout the paper, but the results were fulfilling as not only the editors, but the patrons of the paper started to see it again on campus.
With my time at the Echo, I saw an immense amount of change stemming from the beginning and the end of the pandemic.
The challenges of writing and producing the paper have been nothing short of life changing as the paper has provided me some of the greatest experiences of my life. And in turn, has provided me a background to go to graduate school at the University for sports management next year and to help further my dream of working in sports communication and media for the rest of my working career. Without the Echo, I wouldn’t be in the position that I am in today.
