As summer begins circling all the graduating seniors like sharks, it’s time for The Preface to bid farewell to a few of our staff members as they embark on a new journey. Saying goodbye to The Preface is our Layout Editor, Staff-Writer and nerd chic, Emmalee Anglemyer, our Staff-Writer and animal enthusiast, Ashley Bergeron, and sick-of-our-typos Editor-in-Chief, Mira Costello. Before they leave, we found it fit to put them on the other side of an interview to give some parting remarks.

“I worked on my student newspaper at different levels throughout high school, so I knew going in that I was interested,” Mira answered when asked what got her interested in working for The Preface. “Actually, on my first day on campus, during the welcome back fair, I ran into a girl who I’d been following on Instagram and she said she was on her way to the first Preface meeting of the semester and invited me to come with. I remember going to the meeting and the adviser at the time asking me, ‘can you write?’ They were pretty low on staff at the time and basically hired me on the spot.”

Emmalee said she was a reader first.

“I originally wanted to come to The Preface as a cartoonist! I did comics for my first semester or so but ended up stopping once I took over the layout of the paper,” she said.

Ashley saw The Preface as an opportunity to spread positivity.

“I would get really depressed doomscrolling on social media due to all of the sad news. I noticed there were things that people can do and good things that are happening, so I joined the Preface to help bring awareness to that stuff,” she said. 

Ashley worked on numerous articles for The Preface that focused on animals such as her ‘Titan Tails’ series highlighting adoptable animals. Her favorite articles ended up being about the Indiana Dinosaur Museum.  

“Interviewing one of the people behind, getting a tour of the place before it opens, hearing that people in Indy were quoting my first article and getting a tour of the place after it opened was surreal,” she stated.

As for Mira and Emmalee, they both loved putting in the work for the ICE OUT issue. 

“I would say the two projects I was absolutely psyched about were interviewing the mayor and doing our ICE OUT issue,” Mira said. 

“I loved laying out the ICE OUT issue, it felt like I was a part of something really important,” Anglemyer said. “It was such a cool issue and I hope The Preface continues to fight for good causes.” 

Even though Emmalee started as a cartoonist, her ability to design cohesive pages for the paper was always impressive, especially since newspaper layout was something she learned on the job. 

“I learned how to use InDesign basically from the ground up with The Preface, and it helped me to discover that I have a real passion for layout design as my niche!” she said. 

Ashley said working at The Preface helped her push her comfort zone. 

“I learned how to send emails to people I have never talked to before,”she said. “I have social anxiety, which can make a lot of things difficult. One of the things with journalism is that you’re going to have to reach out to people for a story. While I may not be perfect, I have developed this skill while working for the Preface.”

As for Mira? It was clear working for The Preface made her feel more well-rounded.

“Working at The Preface has transformed me in every way possible. Especially the Editor-in-Chief role,” she said. “Obviously my editing skills have improved immensely and I’ve learned so much technically, but just as a person, it’s hard to express how much I’ve grown.”

Mira has worked for The Preface since 2021. Some of her other notable work includes interviewing Chancellor Brian Pappas and creating ‘The Takeaway,’ a news digest series that catches students up on important current events without having to sift through all the headlines.

“I’ve done things I didn’t think I could do, proved to myself that no matter what, if I’m determined to do something, I’m gonna do it. I’ve learned how to work with people and be a mentor, how to create a staff culture that lifts people up while also encouraging them to challenge themselves, how to fail and learn and still be someone people can trust,” she said. 

The departing trio had some key advice for those taking over in their absence. 

“Do things you don’t want to do at first and do them worse than you want to. I really like the saying that perfect is the enemy of good,” Mira said. “Never turn down a project or an interview or an assignment because you’re scared, or it’s time consuming, or you don’t think you’re qualified.” 

Emmalee shared a similar esntiment.

“If you want to do something, go for it! It’s so rare you can find a job that will let you work on fun stuff that you actually enjoy – don’t be shy and take advantage of it! If you wanna do cartoons, write a fun story or write the hit piece of the century, go for it!” she said.

Ashley encouraged staff to collaborate and support each other. 

“Please ask questions and ask for help,” Ashley said. “Everyone in The Preface is working on the same goal as you: make the best paper possible for IU South Bend. If you’re having any issues with researching or writing your story, someone will be there to help you.”

Mira echoed this.

“The best way to become a journalist, or a designer or cartoonist or photographer or any of those things, is to DO journalism, design, etc. Trust that even though not everything is going to be your dream project, it’s there for a reason and it’s going to help you grow and learn things you didn’t even know you didn’t know,” she said. “Lean on others for help and feedback and just embrace the fact that you might mess up in front of people, and that’s okay.”

What are they going to miss the most after graduation, you ask? Why, The Preface, of course! Outside of that, though…

“I’m honestly going to miss taking labs,” Ashley said. “They are the best way for me to learn a subject and are so exciting to do. Some of my best friends have also come from these lab classes and I miss that I probably won’t be able to experience lab with them again as we move on in our career.”

Mira said she’ll miss the fries at the grill.

“I think I’ll miss all the opportunities to go and be with other people and have community, watching movies, making crafts, stuff like that,” she added. “And the campus itself – it’s just such a peaceful place to be sometimes.”

Emmalee will miss parts of academia.

“I’m going to miss having easy access to advice from experienced professionals,” she said. “I’ve found the arts department to be a pretty judgement-free zone, and I’ve found feedback from professors to be invaluable. If you’re an art student especially, ask your professors anything and everything! Get the most out of your college experience!”

The three ABC’s (Anglemyer, Bergeron, Costello) shared where their next move will be out of college. 

“I am hightailing my ass to California! I’ve got a potential internship as a layout designer for a publishing company and I’m transferring stores to keep my retail job as a back up,” Emmalee, graduating with a BFA in graphic design, shared. “I’m moving in with my partner and I’m so excited to start this next chapter of my life with people that I love in such a beautiful place.”

While not always active online, you can find Emmalee under most social media with the name Emmale Anglemyer or a variation of “terribly curious” / “curiously terrible.” Her display name is usually Mimzi.

Ashley, who is finishing her degree in biological sciences, is going to pursue veterinary school but said she’s looking at other options, too.

“I really like the idea of working in a lab where I can test samples for bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc., so I’m leaning towards that being my second option,” she said. 

You can find her on Instagram @ashleybergeronbb.

With her degree in journalism, Mira will be working at ABC57, South Bend’s ABC news station.

“Everyone asks me if I’m going to be on air, and the answer is no, I am definitely a behind-the-scenes girl,” she said. “I’m not really sure what my career path looks like, but finding a place where I can write a lot and be happy is really all that matters to me.” 

You can find her on Instagram @miracostello. 

The Preface staff wish the three a fond goodbye and hope that we can keep the paper at the same level of quality they left us with.