February is here — a month drowning in heart-shaped capitalism, sticky chocolate and predictable rom-coms. But beyond the grand gestures and candle-lit dinners, there’s another kind of love worth celebrating: the unexpected friends that listen to our woes and fumbles.
But these friendships don’t just appear out of thin air.
Like in our favorite rom-coms, the best friendships are forged under the most unlikely of circumstances —- being a wallflower at a party, commiserating over an awkward group project or even working in a chaotic student newsroom, like ours did.
So, instead of rewatching “Bridget Jones Diary” on Feb. 14 or pining over your campus crush, get up and step outside your comfort zone. Join a new club, or pick a different hobby — because the best friendships come from the unexpected.
How I became friends with the Living Editor
I hadn’t planned on joining The Beacon. I just knew I wanted to try something new in my junior year — to step outside my usual circles and meet different people. Then, one afternoon, while scrolling through Instagram, I saw a post: The Beacon is hiring.
A few days before the deadline, I submitted my application on a whim. A week later, I got the email, I was in.
On the first day of Beacon boot camp, I walked up to the plastic folding tables, scanning the room as people chatted and laughed like they had known each other forever. Across the table sat Camille Kuroiwa-Lewis. We exchanged small talk and quick introductions and then turned our attention to the front as the training began.
That’s my first memory of Kuroiwa-Lewis.
If I hadn’t joined The Beacon, I don’t know if our paths would have ever crossed. Maybe we would have met in an English class or been introduced by mutual friends on campus. But instead, we met on a sunny day, learning how to be “Beaconites.”
Somewhere along the way, chatting during work meetings became long library sessions. We’d have half-serious debates over pitches, complaints about deadlines and completely unhinged conversations about things that didn’t matter but somehow made us laugh too hard for the people next to us.
On paper — and just like the sections we edit — we couldn’t be more different. To this day, every time she gets in my car, she immediately shuts off my “Let It Shine” soundtrack and blasts Siouxsie and The Banshees instead. I still have no idea what genre of music that is.
But the funny thing about student organizations is that they bring together people who otherwise might have stayed strangers. Kuroiwa-Lewis is one of the most hardworking, caring, humorous, resilient and thoughtful people I know. I signed up for The Beacon because I wanted to learn something new, and in the process, I found a person who has become an integral part of my everyday life.
I don’t think either of us expected to meet one of our closest friends by walking into a student newsroom. But we did. And if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that stepping into something unfamiliar — signing up, showing up, giving it a shot — is how friendships like this happen.
And for that, I am forever grateful.
How I became friends with the News and Managing editor
For my 20th birthday, I invited a group of friends to see a 70 mm screening of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” While I was enamored by the monkeys and sci-fi soundtrack, Julianna Pedone thought she had discreetly fallen asleep beside me.
I turned to the sound of snores ringing in my left ear.
Pedone, who declined to see “Rocky Horror” for fear of being called expletives by the cabaret cast, loves to bake for her friends. She reads romance books and listens to musical soundtracks on our drives to Trader Joe's. She is one of my favorite people I’ve met while working at The Beacon.
Our first day of Beacon boot camp, Pedone moved from table to table, catching up with old friends and making new ones. I was shocked to learn that, like me, that day of boot camp was her first day on The Beacon, too.
From then on, I knew I had to become her understudy in charisma and diligence, two qualities she’s brought to her work as a reporter and editor.
While the exact moment we transformed from coworkers to friends is unclear, maybe it was the day she supplied me with my entire course readings for Arabic Literature, a class she took the semester before. In reality, it was probably a slower process, built overtime through countless invites to study at Cathedral Coffee and many a question regarding how to craft the best resume.
All I know about Pedone and I’s friendship is that had we not both taken the chance to apply to The Beacon, the road to where we are now — spending many afternoons laughing while watching “Bridget Jones” or “The Fault In Our Stars” — would’ve been far longer.
Bonding over extracurriculars has forged a friendship stronger than one made by accident. From late nights editing in the newsroom to our loud visits to the library, Pedone and I have connected over nut grafs we can’t quite crack and jumping on breaking news that wakes everyone in the early morning.
The struggles of student journalism might’ve already broken my spirits, if not for the support editors like Pedone have gifted me along the way.
Camille Kuroiwa-Lewis is the Living Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at kuroiwal26@up.edu.
Julianna Pedone is the News and Managing Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at pedone25@up.edu.
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