Readers,
It’s been so long! And now it will be even longer! My name is Emma Rosenbaum and I’m the founder, head writer, editor-in-chief, and just about everything you’d think of Runaway Bulldog. Many of you probably already knew that because it was the worst kept secret ever. But now I finally don’t have to write in the first person plural anymore. Because I’ll let you in on a secret. It mostly hasn’t been “we.”
I have decided to pass Runaway Bulldog down, and I will be ending my reign. Due to people’s surprising irritation at my recent lack of issues, I felt like I needed a more formal “goodbye.” And, since so many of you have been reading from the start (hi mom and dad), I feel like I owe you all the story of this paper.
When everything surrounding the counselors started coming out, I watched the school board meetings and read all of the articles. I knew that the school newspaper wouldn’t go near it, and I knew the Union Leader wouldn’t go in depth. To me, it was the last straw, so I took matters into my own hands. I’m not looking to bash my “competition,” but I strongly feel that there’s no point in a newspaper if no one reads it. It was my mission from the start to report local news that actually mattered to Bedford. And, if there wasn’t real news, I was determined that I’d at least be entertaining.
I was surprised by how much news a 20,000 person town had — the counselors, statistics of all the taboo things students have done, apartments next to the high school, a mid season firing of a basketball coach, interior cameras, a really, really awful turf, and of course, the parents that kept things…interesting. It’s truly a testament to how amazing and completely insane our town is. And I have to say, I’m proud. Truly.
However, as much as I have loved watching school board meetings and finding humor in…everything, I spent 20+ hours a week last year on this paper as a one-woman-show. Even with the addition of more writers this year, it was incredibly hard to get issues out during the first semester of senior year. And now, as much as I love this paper, more than anything, I’d like to enjoy the rest of my senior year, and let senioritis take its course. But you should know that, while this started as an experiment to see if I could fill a void, if I could garner interest, if people cared about what was happening at the school, it turned into a passion. I will be majoring in journalism next year.
I’m passing over the paper to new management to do God knows what. But I have faith in them, so I hope you will too. Thank you for the undying support for the past year and a half; it’s all of you that kept me going and made me enjoy it. Nothing made me happier than my parents telling me that someone mentioned the paper on Facebook or seeing a mention on Twitter. It would not have been what it was without you guys…and Mr. Fournier being way too willing to spend his time talking to me.
Now my watch has ended.
Emma Rosenbaum
BHS 2020
Northwestern 2024
P.S. please vote for the budget 🙂