FreepOUT: Staff Introductions 2013-2014
By Michelle Jay, Multimedia Editor@michelllelynn
and Samantha Wong, Blog Editor @samzwong
and Samantha Wong, Blog Editor @samzwong
Name: Chris Lisinski
Position at the FreeP: Editor-in-Chief
Age: 20
Hometown: Bellport, New York
Why the FreeP? I joined the FreeP because I wanted to get more involved on campus and develop my writing skills.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: Yesterday an English professor asked me what I remembered from reading “Gawain and the Green Knight” in an earlier class. Trying (poorly) to describe the Green Chapel deep in the woods, I said “something involving green.” Now I’m viewed as the dumbest kid in class.
Name: Sofiya Mahdi
Position at the FreeP: Managing Editor
Age: 21
Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Why the FreeP? I joined the FreeP because I’m not a journalism major and I wanted to gain some writing experience in a different field.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: My most awkward first day of class was in kindergarten when I was on the playground and started crying because other kids were trying to hug me.
Name: Margaret Waterman
Position at the FreeP: Campus editor
Age: 20
Hometown: Concord, Mass.
Why the FreeP? I joined the FreeP because I worked in Boston the summer before transferring to BU and I wanted to get involved before I showed up on campus in September. I’m also a journalism major so I was excited to pursue it extracurricularly.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: As for a bad first day story, I don’t really have one. I’ve definitely done embarrassing things on the first day — without question — but I’ve probably blocked them out. On the first day of field hockey camp at UMass one year, I dropped a plate full of food in the middle of the dining hall during our first meal and the entire huge room, packed with girls, went totally silent. It was awkward.
Name: Kyle Plantz
Position at the FreeP: City editor
Age: 20
Hometown: Syracuse, New York
Why the FreeP? I joined the FreeP because I wanted to get some experience in journalism before I decided on what my major was going to be. I didn’t know if I wanted to do news/editorial or broadcast, but my experience at the FreeP has made me want to pursue writing for a newspaper or online news outlet.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: My most awkward first day of school was when I was in 8th grade during lunch when some of my friends put applesauce on my chair and I went up to get a snack and didn’t check my chair when I went to sit down. Long story short, I had to walk around the rest of the day with a huge applesauce stain on my butt. Everyone loved me.
Name: Sarah Kirkpatrick
Position at the FreeP: Sports editor
Age: 19
Hometown: Mukilteo, Washington
Why the FreeP? I joined the FreeP to write about cross country and ended up doing a lot more than that.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: My most awkward first day of school was my senior year of high school. I had foot surgery two weeks prior to my first day and was on one of those knee scooter things, so all the teachers made a way bigger deal than they needed to about making sure I was comfortable. And all of my classmates wanted to ride the scooter around the classroom.
Name: Brian Latimer
Position at the FreeP: Opinion editor
Age: 20
Hometown: Montclair, New Jersey
Why the FreeP? Unknown
Most embarrassing/awkward story: For the past 5 or so years I have had a case of the hiccups. It’s not like I hiccup 24/7, but I get them every day. Today, in a class of 88 people, I hiccuped so loud in the front row the professor stopped speaking, stared at me and chuckled.
Name: Sarah Fisher
Position at the FreeP: Photo editor
Hometown: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Why the FreeP? I joined the Photo section of the FreeP half by accident – I’ve always loved photography, but I never had a chance to shoot as a photojournalist. I shot for my high school newspaper, but I wasn’t wild about shooting school meetings and fundraisers. With FreeP, I’ve seen so much more of Boston than I would have otherwise, all while building my portfolio.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: This past Tuesday, I fell asleep in one of my classes. When I woke up, I started nodding enthusiastically to whatever my professor was saying, so he called on me in front of the entire 100+ people lecture hall. I just turned red and waited for someone else to answer.
Name:Michelle Jay
Position at the FreeP: Multimedia editor
Age: 21
Hometown: Westmont, Illinois
Why the FreeP? I joined the photo staff of the FreeP when I got to BU because I enjoy using photos to tell stories. I figured this was as good a place as any to do so. Somehow, I’m still here, just telling stories in a different way this semester.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: On my first day of 6th grade, there was a class on my schedule that wasn’t actually my class. There was a class in that room and I kept getting sent back there. But, it was an 8th grade Spanish class and I was supposed to be in study hall.
Name: Christina Janansky
Position at the FreeP: Features editor
Age: 21
Hometown: Egg Harbor Town, New Jersey
Why the FreeP? Since my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to pursue journalism, though I didn’t really know what kind. I joined the FreeP my sophomore year for this very reason – to figure out where I could best ‘fit’ within the journalism world. And I found it through doing the FreeP, which rules.
Most awkward/embarrassing story: My most awkward first day happened my freshman year of college. My roommate and I were walking to the FitRec so I could meet her parents before class. Her mom, the most welcoming lady ever, immediately greeted me with a huge hug. Her dad, on the other hand, continued his business call, paying no attention to us at all. After talking for a few minutes, my roommate and her mom decided to get in the car and head to the bookstore – but I still hadn’t met her dad. Given how friendly her and her mom were, I waited around for a couple minutes for him to get off the phone and, when he finally did, I began approaching him. When I was about one foot away, he put his arms out…so I thought, ‘oh, he wants a hug.’ So I wrapped my arms tightly around him for a good 10 seconds before I realized he wasn’t hugging me back… Turns out he had put his arms out in an attempt to get around me on the sidewalk/had absolutely no idea who I was.