Editor-in-chief closes a chapter

Most people go into college with a desire to join a club for enjoyment or to pursue interests that differ from their major. For senior communications major Ameara Ditsche, her club of choice led her to her degree. 

Ditsche came to Saint Rose in 2018 as an English education major, but quickly realized that her passion was in journalism.

After joining The Chronicle at the beginning of her freshman year, she fell in love with the craft and decided her time would be better spent as a communication major with a journalism concentration than as an English major. 

Coming from Philadelphia, Pa., Ditsche knew she wanted to go to a small school, and Saint Rose ended up being the best fit. She is grateful for the experiences she has had that have shaped her into who she is today. “College is one of the few experiences in your life where you go in a kid and come out an adult,” said Ditsche.

The friendships Ditsche has formed through Saint Rose have been especially meaningful to her, “my freshman year roommate is still one of my best friends to this day,” said Ditsche. Saga Strandén and Ditsche met at their STAR day in 2018 and have been friends ever since. 

“Ameara is confident and fearless in the things she does,” wrote Strandén. “I’ve always admired that she dedicates herself so wholeheartedly to the things she is passionate about.”

Ditsche has put her passion largely into The Chronicle and has held many positions throughout her time on the staff. She has climbed up the ranks from staff writer, to arts editor, and now editor-in-chief. 

Close friendships have also been found within The Chronicle, as well as mentors. 

“She’s always been very passionate and very driven, very hard working, especially when it comes to communications and journalism,” said previous Executive Editor Emily Paolicelli.

Paolicelli and Ditsche were scheduled to be co-executive editors during the 2021-2022 school year, but Paolicelli had to step down due to a busy graduate school schedule and prioritizing their mental health. 

“I knew that I could not do The Chronicle justice, but I knew that she could,” said Paolicelli. “I had seen Ameara’s drive and her passion for her work and I knew over anybody else that was on that team at that time that she was the most likely to put her heart and soul into improve the chronicle… and that’s exactly what she’s done.” 

Throughout her time on The Chronicle, Ditsche has displayed strong leadership skills, desire to help others, and drive to do what is best for the paper. 

She is proud of the fact that even through the pandemic, the paper never fully stopped producing. There were times where changes had to be made, like shifting to online instead of print publication, lack of new members and student participation, but “despite all of that we’ve never stopped,” said Ditsche. 

Ditsche also created the new Chronicle logo, changing it from a yellow box around the “C” in “Chronicle” to a sun representing the College’s motto “in thy light we shall see light.” 

While her time at Saint Rose was full of memorable experiences, there were still many obstacles she had to overcome. Whether that was a heavy workload, maintaining a part-time job along with school, or time management, Ditsche has learned a lot from these experiences.

“Balancing a lot of different versions of myself…and learning to prioritize those different parts of myself,  that’s probably been my biggest struggle,” said Ditsche.

Despite some hardships, she has had support along the way both from friends and professors at the College. 

Ditsche credits the new journalism professor, and advisor for The Chronicle, Shawn McIntosh for both her recent growth as well as the growth of the paper. “One of the first things Shawn said to me when we met was ‘it’s your paper’ and he has upheld that ideology… he lets us figure things out and lets us learn how we want to learn,” said Ditsche.

McIntosh, being a key player in the recent success of the paper, sees Ditsche’s drive and passion everyday. “Ameara is fiercely protective of the paper, and I admire her for that,” said McIntosh. “Especially with the chaos of the past couple years and lack of staff, it would have been so easy to just give up and let things slide… but her work ethic and drive played a major role in seeing it published regularly even with all the barriers, which is no small feat.”

Professors, like McIntosh, have been a huge support for Ditsche and have inspired her in many ways.

“The professors at Saint Rose are amazing, especially the communications professors,” said Ditsche. “A specific quality of Saint Rose professors is passion… it makes me think ‘wow you’re amazing at this and you love it so much that you’re willing to teach a bunch of 19-year-olds how to do it,” she added.

With this, Ditsche’s original major of English education is still a siren’s song in her career as she is looking into going to graduate school in order to become a professor in the future. 

“Someone like Shawn, who is an amazing advisor and is there for us as people just as much as he’s there for the paper and its success… I want to do that,” said Ditsche.

While Ditsche’s time at Saint Rose is coming to a close, there is a bright future ahead of her full of support and success.

“Ameara has been my best friend for almost half a decade and I admire the hell out of her… she is the Rory Gilmore to my Lane Kim,” said Strandén. “She’s become this confident, self-assured adult in the years since I met her and I’m just so proud to see her graduate and psyched to see what she does next.”