From the Managing Editor: How Lucky Am I

Editor’s Note: This is an op-ed written by managing editor Cara Lacey; any thoughts or opinions expressed are her own.

I did not voluntarily speak at my first or second Center Field meeting, but on my third, I spoke for the first time. Well, I didn’t really talk. I let out a little noise and then a “Sorry!” 

I leaned against the light switch, which at the time was one of those motion-activated ones (the school changed the light switch in the center, no joke, this semester, my final one here, pretty ironic). The lights went out mid-meeting because of me, my backpack hit the light, and I viewed my career as over before it began. 

I was just the girl who stood silent in the corner and at the time, keep in mind, maybe one of three girls in the room and now I wasn’t just the girl no one knew, I was the girl who turned off the lights. So after that meeting, I ghosted the club (well, it wasn’t technically a club then, but that’s another story). 

Typically, only the editor in chief has written one of these, but Ben Leeds allowed me to write one of my own, and I accepted. 

Since joining Center Field post light switch gate, I have never passed up the opportunity to talk about my love for this club and the people I have met in the walls of LT 141. As I stood in the corner at those first meetings, I watched in admiration as the editorial board at the time worked. They all seemed like they were on top of their shit and knew what they wanted to do and who they wanted to be. 

And then there was me.

I had no clue what I wanted to do, what I was doing, or who I was. All I knew was that I wanted to be creative and work in sports.

I shadowed my first game in tandem with my roommate, Brooke Burrows, covering a men’s soccer game at Tenney Stadium with Luke Sassa on September 24, 2022.

After shadowing Luke, I put the Center Field meeting times in my calendar to make sure I went back. My attendance freshman year was less than sporadic. To be honest, I barely went. I had a standing Book and Beans (at the time Fox and Loxs) date with my dear friends Shea Miller and Lizzy Ferro and that took priority for me as a freshman, building relationships. That standing bagel reservation paid off for me in a different way, as they will also be in my life forever.

It was not until my freshman year spring semester, when I was out and about, that Luke came up to me and talked up how wonderful Center Field is and how much it means to him. Luke spoke with such high praise and also mentioned how he was aware that at times he knew it could feel like a boys’ club, but he wanted me in that room. I think Luke saw something in me that I didn’t see yet and so I put my trust in him. 

That Wednesday, I returned to the general meetings, and in two weeks, on April 26, 2023, I was sitting at the table in the center for the very first time. Across from Luke, Dan Aulbach and Andrew Hard. I remember that day vividly. I went to New Paltz the night before and maybe had too much fun. I woke up and nearly canceled my meeting. I was feeling so down in the dumps, but I pulled it together, got some Books and Bean, compiled a little portfolio and went to plead my case on why I should be Center Field’s Director of social media and graphic design. 

I guess I talked myself up enough because that following Tuesday, I received an email that, in the most dramatic way possible, changed my time at Marist. 

The Center Field editorial board in my first semester can be compared to some of the greatest teams of all time; some even call us G-Force. I can get emotional when thinking about everyone in that room and what they did for this club and for me as a human being. I had friends my freshman year, but Center Field gave me more than friends; it felt like I was right where I belonged. I did not know anyone in those editors’ meetings before our first one, but as the weeks went on in my sophomore year, I would stay in that room for hours just talking and laughing. 

Two things stand out to me in the beginning, as I look back, the first was that I was very unsure if I truly deserved to be in the room and the second was the fear of being judged. Being a girl in a room full of guys can be intimidating, and at first it was. But it was never them who made me feel like an outsider; it was just the standards of being the only one in the room. But at the end of the day, it never mattered that I was a girl who wanted to pursue a career and passion in sports; I was just Cara.

As a person, I am pretty awkward when I first meet people, but give me time and then I won’t stop talking. I remember one time Dan told me I was quietly one of the funniest people he has ever met and I hold that tight to my heart now. My voice was heard and I found it through Center Field. I never pictured myself as a journalist, although I have always loved writing, but was afraid to share it with other people to read, and yet here I am addicted to writing. 

I made one of my best friends in the center, the now (well … Is now still the right word, I don’t know, he will always be my EIC, I guess) editor-in-chief, Ben Leeds. It was always known without saying that Ben was going to be running the show from when we were in those meetings sophomore year (at least to me and the rest of the room, I am unaware if Ben himself knew), but to become close friends with him and watch him grow professionally has been something I do not want to go without mentioning.

I never tell him this, but I admire Ben’s passion for what he does, the goals that he sees for himself, but also the people around him. This year, Ben edited my two beats, and he was always diligent when editing me, telling me where I could improve, when I was being too passive, but also highlighting parts that he liked in my writing – where he was proud of my storytelling and ability to set the scene. I know at times he hit burnouts and became frustrated but that was only because he cared. The two of us saw how hard the boards before us worked to get Center Field where it is today and we wanted to make them proud (I hope we succeeded).

Outside of LT, Ben and I bonded beyond the work that we were doing. He recently showed me something he saw on Instagram that said “Work Friends Accidentally Become Real Friends,” which describes us perfectly.

There are so many people who have had lasting impacts on me through my time at Center Field that deserve a shout, so thank you, Dan Aulbach, Sam Murphy, Jimmy Tsiantoulous, Marley Pope, Aidan Lavin, Mike Burns, Danny Destler and Jaylen Rizzo. I can write paragraphs for each of these people and how they helped me in different ways. 

Our editors’ group chat from last year is still active; we text nearly every week with updates on our lives and the alumni checking in on what Center Field is posting. These are all relationships that I will carry with me for what I hope to be the rest of my life. 

I would say that Ben and I have seen Center Field grow tremendously over our four years. Before us, there were no final score graphics for nearly every game, no graphics for feature stories; in fact, there was not really a multimedia team until I took over as Director my sophomore year under Luke and Dan.  

These past three and a half or so years, I have poured my heart and soul into this club. I was even at the SGA board meeting my sophomore year, presenting on why Center Field should become an official Marist-sponsored club. I have chosen to give this much to this club because it has given me even more. 

Being at what feels like the center of the sports communications world at Marist, I have also developed friendships with my professors Zach Arth and Leander Schaerlaeckens. Thank you to both of you for always being in my corner and supporting women in sports and journalism. It does not go unnoticed. 

To Joanna D’Avanzo, whom I will call my mentor, for being a trusted source of wisdom during my time at Marist, even though sometimes I know you would rather I work solely in advertising and worry less about the sports aspect of my career, thank you for being you. 

Marist has supported me in ways I didn’t know were possible for a student. From the Super Bowl to the Olympics, and the most exciting of them all, Atlantic City, I am leaving Poughkeepsie with countless learning experiences. 

My opening role at Center Field was not to write, but I deep down knew that was what I wanted to do. I volunteered over the summer to write my first piece, raised my hand at an editors meeting to be the water polo beat writer and now, in my senior year, I covered both women’s soccer and women’s basketball, wrote a couple of feature stories and was able to run this club alongside Ben.  

To the future of Center Field, make us proud. We know what you are all capable of, and I am excited to see this publication grow. Max, you will be a fantastic editor-in-chief. Ryan, your passion is exhilarating and will guide you as you take on your new role.   

As much as the work matters, make sure you also enjoy your time at Marist. The work-life balance is alive and true. Enjoy and dive into your passions, optimize your time with the people who surround the work as well. Continue going to Kings Court and don’t let Spormal die. Center Field is a gift, and you are going to want to keep the people you meet because of it in your lives for as long as you can. 

My chest is feeling heavy as I know I have to start wrapping up because no one wants to read 100,000-plus words on how much Center Field and Marist mean to me, so I will have an extended version in the privacy of my notes app.

But for a cheeseball ending, I can say that without Center Field and the tremendous groups of people I have gotten to know and work with along the way, my Marist experience was made by this club. I do not want to stop writing because I don’t want this chapter to end for me. I wish I had more time. But I guess that is life. And so I will move on and stop emailing SIDs and pushing the fun of Spormal to everyone I know. Off to other things. I won’t say better because it will be a challenge to get better than what I had for my time at Marist. 

Oh boy, that is all I have for now. 

– Cara Lacey