New Year, New Team

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Lǎozǐ

With each passing year comes change. New surroundings, new companions, and new adventures, all patiently awaiting our arrival. For some of you, this year is a fresh start. For others, it’s another year for you to strive for success. Some are comfortable, and simply want to live every night at AOA as if it could be their last…

And some of us are grieving the friends we’ve lost along the way.

We’re all aware of last year’s series of tragic events, so I won’t dwell on those any more than we already have offline. Instead, let’s focus on the living and the undead.

As you know, more than half of The Arcane Citizen’s team has graduated, leaving behind several key positions and informative articles. Before January, Fiona Lawrence–our president, and my older sister–passed the torch to me. Yes, you’re looking at the new president of the Journalism Club, and editor in chief of The Arcane Citizen!

“What does that mean for TAC? Will things be different?”

Well, yes and no. We’ll still be providing you with entertainment, news, and informational pieces–there will just be new faces and names delivering these articles. Before we get to that, though, I think it best to memorialize our recently graduated members with a few words.

Feliks Kotov

publicity officer | sports reporter

The most reserved member of our team was none other than Feliks, a wereleopard from the Altai Leap. He’s a bright guy with many interests: baking, which brought him to the Academy’s Baking Club; animal conservation, which led to him becoming the president of the Animal Rescue Club; fitness, and (most notably) sports. The latter two interests are what contributed to Feliks joining track and field, and his natural athleticism got him noticed by Vice President Melusine. She recruited him to the Citizen when they were sophomores, and the mountain cat has been with us as our publicity officer and sports reporter ever since.

Off the field, Feliks was also an organizer for the gay division of the LGBTQIA+ Alliance, vice president of the Poetry Club, and Treasurer of the International Language Club. He speaks six different languages, including Kazakh and Mandarin Chinese.

Feliks has been attending the University of Pittsburgh as a Sports Medicine major since January.

Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash

Arion Floros

secretary & treasurer | blogger

The Gossip King for the ages, Arion credits his recruitment to Melusine’s keen eye for talent… Even though he joined the club of his own accord after seeing one of her flyers around campus. He made quite the impression, rising to become our secretary and treasurer after only a year. Outside of journalism, he’s president of the LGBTQIA+ Alliance Club and the leader of their gay division.

Arion is also a midfielder for the Magic Striders and a member of the environmental, drama, and animal rescue clubs. Currently, our favorite blogger is taking a year off of his studies to travel the world, but he plans to pursue a career in investigative journalism.

Photo by Norbert Tóth on Unsplash

Melusine Jordan

vice president | sports editor

Our resident merperson and bringer of all the positive vibes. Melusine joined the Journalism Club with Fiona during their freshman year. Always an avid sports and health advocate, she helped her friend and president digitize the school newsletter, bringing our publication to the modern age as mere sophomores. Mel recruited every member, reporter, and contributor that you know and love–Arion, Virgil, and Feliks–and managed to rally the entire student body behind our football team, the Magic Striders.

Besides journalism, Melusine was the captain of the Blue Dreams volleyball team and the swim team, co-captain of the Mad Howlers basketball team, vice president of the Art Club and LGBTQIA+ Alliance–as well the leader of the lesbian division of the alliance. Also, she’s a member of the yoga, astronomy, and international language clubs with knowledge of four languages.

Melusine has been studying business management and athletic training at Stanford University since last fall.

Photo by Ahmed Adel on Unsplash

Fiona Lawrence

president | editor-in-chief

And here is the dryad who made all this a reality: our president, and my big sister. Having taken an interest in journalism since she was little, Fiona joined AOA with the goal of joining the Journalism Club in a time when they didn’t accept freshmen. She changed Prof. Penn and the sitting president’s mind with only her dedication and passion for the truth. She encouraged Melusine to join with her, who recruited the other two seniors we see on this list. They convinced the powers at be to create a website for the school as a way to bring our newsletter to a digital audience, and Fiona made such an impression that upon the president’s graduation, he anointed her as his successor.

Journalism may be her primary passion, but Fiona is multi-talented. She’s also the head of the school choir, president of the horticulture and environmental clubs, and leader of the asexual division of the LGBTQIA+ Alliance.

Fiona begins her journey this summer at Indiana University Bloomington, where she’ll be majoring in–you guessed it–journalism.

Photo by Nora Hutton on Unsplash

On behalf of the student body, I’d like to express my appreciation and well wishes to Fiona, Mel, Arion, and Feliks. Your success is our success, so make us proud!

With this position comes power and responsibility that I promise to wield with honor. I’ll do my best to follow in the footsteps of such a prodigious leader–and part of leading is choosing a team worthy of the Citizen’s name.

I’ll start by addressing the question at the forefront of everyone’s mind: is Virgil still a member of the Journalism Club? The answer is simply yes, our favorite undead photographer is sticking with me, and he has been promoted to vice president of the club. It’s his final year with us, however, so he’ll spend most of this year training his replacement as photo editor.

The fledgling photographer in question is Axel de Ardo, who brought us a few recruits over the previous year:

Helena Corey – Sports & Health Reporter

Angel Wang – Opinions Reporter

Caricia de Ardo – Special Interest Blogger

Most of you know after reading Mortimer’s article yesterday that he’s also graduating, but don’t worry. Your weekly tarot needs will be met by his recommended successor, Aerwyna Marvin. Join me in welcoming all these recruits in the comments!

In addition to new names and faces, we’ll also be rolling out a new schedule and a couple of new segments, as well as keeping a few of the old ones. Please note that this schedule will take effect next week.

MONDAY – Wyn’s Weekly Insight is a spin on the former weekly tarot segment we had with Mortimer, now brought to you by Aerwyna Marvin. Since Aerwyna is not a member of the club but a guest contributor, I’ll be posting the segment in her stead.

TUESDAY – Magick Mania, a new segment, involves Cari de Ardo discussing all things magick, including tips on spellwork, rules of enchantment, and ingredient dos and don’ts.

WEDNESDAY – Poetic Justice is a TAC first, as it’s a segment proposed by photographer Axel. He’ll be sharing poetry submitted by anonymous students and offering his critique.

THURSDAY – Health Tips with Melusine will still be going strong! That’s right, Citizens–our favorite merperson will continue delivering brutally honest advice in a sarcastic tone. Even though she’s moved on from our campus, she insists that this academy requires her help.

FRIDAY – School News, a segment by me, is pretty self-explanatory. Basically, I’ll be posting an end-of-the-week update on everything related to our campus, our professors, our clubs, and upcoming events.

SATURDAY – Sports Highlight is making a comeback, but this time there’s a new player up to bat. Helena Corey is taking over as our sports reporter, and she’ll be updating you on every game, meet, athletic event, win, and loss.

SUNDAY – Rumor Has It… Is a segment that will never die, all thanks to one provocative pterippos. There’s only one reporter he recommended to carry on his legacy: Angel Wang, a unicorn whose sass and blunt way of speaking rivals Arion’s flair for the dramatic. What better way to end the academic week–and begin your mortal week–than by reading school gossip.

I hope you’re ready to have your entire week filled with entertainment for the foreseeable future, because each and every one of our contributors is eager to bring these segments to life. I have faith in this team Virgil and I manage. You’ll do well, cubs.

2021 was a whirlwind of a year, so here’s hoping 2022 will treat us better. Stay tuned for Arion’s, Feliks’, and Fiona’s parting words, and Mel should be posting an article at some point this week. I wish you all a wonderful start to the year. Let’s make 2022 memorable.