Welcome, Badgers.

For the next four years or so, you will likely hear the age-old phrase every relative has muttered to you at some point or another over awkward small talk: College is the best years of your life. 

And it’s true. When you get to wake up every morning to the University of Wisconsin’s gorgeous campus and a constantly-bustling city nestled between two beautiful lakes, what’s not to love about the next couple of years?

But while the next chapter in your life is sure to be filled with exciting new story lines featuring fresh characters — whose names you may or may not remember — it can be overwhelming trying to find your place in a school of 43,000 students.

Born in 1969, The Badger Herald was founded as an outlet for opposition and a challenge to popular opinion. To this day, it continues to function as a paper which never fails to push boundaries and take risks when it comes to serving its readers with objective news coverage.

While we are constantly finding innovating and engaging ways to expand our digital presence, you can still expect a weekly tabloid product filled with feature-length stories. Print is not dead — not yet, that is.

Having worked for a school newspaper in high school and knowing the newsroom was where I wanted to be once I came to UW — The Badger Herald became the obvious choice.

Even as a biology student, The Herald remains a place that won’t shut its door on me despite my non-traditional major.

Whether it’s covering sexual assault on campus or investigating how the city of Madison works to solve racial disparities, The Herald brings students of all backgrounds together to produce stories with real impact.

As an independent newspaper, we answer to nobody except the community we serve. That, and we pay for our own expenses.

You don’t have to be in the journalism school or majoring in anything remotely close to writing to have a place at The Herald. Here, your ideas and passions have the ability to be translated into stories, photos, videos, ad revenues, real-world business experience and so much more.

If you’re looking to make a difference in the next couple of years, I think you’ll find that place here.

If you’d like to get involved with us next semester, whether it’s as a reporter, photographer, videographer, designer, coder or copy editor, stop by our get involved meetings in the fall or feel free to email me at [email protected].