We crossed picket lines to put out our “Welcome Back” issue. We worked tirelessly every Monday and Tuesday night and into Wednesday mornings. We met every Thursday to talk about what we could do better.

We went through this routine 17 times since May, and will do it 14 more times before next May. But this is not just a routine for the journalists, sales team, photographers, designers and editors at The Oakland Post. This is our strange, self-inflicted passion.

This very well might be the last actual print newspaper many of us ever work for. And it very well might be the best interpersonal experience I will ever have.

I say it in hundreds of e-mails to interested students who want to work for the paper: This is the best experience you could ask for at Oakland University.

To be honest, this is my only extracurricular experience outside of normal classes, parking, and an occasional free-food snatch up. I really do encourage anybody who wants that little, or a lot of, something extra out of their college experience, to consider getting involved with us, or another student organization.

I acknowledge that our office can be intimidating, with writers and editors always running around interrupting conversations and having Chartwells’ nacho cheese chugging contests. But we are all very open to show the curious around, and open to hearing your ideas.

We aren’t some exclusive club and we certainly do not walk around with our heads in the clouds, although they may be buried in a story.

Because of the chaos that is the newsroom, The Post is launching a not-for-credit internship program in January, where interested students from any major or any experience level (even zero) can get their foot in the proverbial door.

To find out more, e-mail me at [email protected].