Parting shots from outgoing EIC Nazeefa Ahmed
April 30 2025—
Late-night copyediting sessions often had me reflecting on Matthew McConaughey’s memoir, Greenlights. In it, the Texan actor suggests that life’s red rejections and yellow uncertainties aren’t dead ends — they’re signals to change course. He encourages people to be “less impressed and more involved”, charting a path toward as many green lights as possible.
Early in my degree, I hit a yellow light: the unsettling realization that I didn’t know where to spend my time as a student. At the time, I was majoring in biomedical sciences, commuting between the main campus and the Foothills Medical Centre, torn between two worlds. Chemistry labs overlapped with editorial meetings; research papers competed with breaking news for my time.
My dichotomous reality stretched me thin, but it also forced me to get honest with myself. Reading was my first green light, discovered early in my life, but writing was the engine that kept me moving forward. So, I poured myself into the Gauntlet, the one place that consistently published my work — as long as I put in the effort.
Over time, I became less impressed with the idea of being a writer and more involved with the process of becoming a competent one. I’m endlessly grateful to the editors who trained me as a volunteer and assistant.
My first lesson as editor-in-chief was that the news cycle waits for no one. Nine days into my term, we were faced with the biggest story of the year: encampments and a heightened police presence on campus. My team and I published countless pieces on campus protests, interviewed activist groups and spoke to the university to publish accurately during times of tension. I am proud of the stories that we produced during a red-light moment.
Most recently, we published comprehensive coverage on the federal snap election, interviewing candidates in Calgary Confederation and providing an in-depth analysis of the three major parties. Our political and union coverage was more extensive this year, possible due to the hard work of editors and volunteers alike.
The Gauntlet also developed our internal community through the most open office hours we have had in a while, allowing volunteers and assistants to interact with editors through workshops and socials. We worked together to cover key events, such as Sled Island, Calgary Stampede and Crowchild Classic. Through each of these stories, we grew closer, co-dependent at times, but better for it.
The Gauntlet is a linchpin for students transitioning into professional roles in journalism and communications. It offers a safety net to experiment, take risks and learn, so that when we enter the industry, we’re ready for its pressures. Mistakes in journalism matter and the Gauntlet prepares us to take accountability and learn from them.
Today’s media landscape requires budding journalists to have experience before graduation, and student reporters are often held to industry veteran standards — despite little formal training. At the Gauntlet, we offer a different model. Our newsroom, funded by student levies, pays 11 student staff members and provides assistants and volunteers with the space to build portfolios and grow their confidence. In short, we serve students as students of the craft — and we value our commitment to readers in every story we write. Being part of a newsroom that prioritized student development and meaningful storytelling gave me the tools (and the audacity) to aim higher.
To my dedicated staff: thank you for your unwavering commitment to this place, especially through the challenges we faced this year. Your drive to elevate your sections and your loyalty to the team turned a tumultuous term into something truly memorable. Together, we built a weekly newsletter, grew our presence on campus and covered important stories despite pushback. Tough decisions were made and met with courage. I needed all of you more than I can articulate.
Thank you to students, researchers and community leaders who interacted with the Gauntlet, either through reading our coverage or participating in interviews. We would not be able to produce stories without your time and trust.
To future EICs: trust me, it doesn’t get easier. But if you’re up for the challenge, you’ll earn more than a byline. You will walk away with a trunk full of memories and a skill set that will drive you places you couldn’t have imagined before.
After four years of reds and yellows, I finally hit a green, and it was all the more rewarding because of the struggle. The green wasn’t a job offer or an opportunity, though those came too. It was something deeper: discovering what I was good at and realizing I could actually build a future around it.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was mine — a green light I earned, made possible by the village that challenged me, supported me and showed up when it counted. And for that, alright, alright, alright.
— Nazeefa Ahmed, editor-in-chief Volume 64, 2024-25