I still remember it so well. The month was December of 2003. It was late and the outside wind seemed to be shaking the brown, 70s-style paneled walls of my outdated off-campus townhouse. I was alone. I had, clutched in my hands, the student voice of the Ohio State University – an issue of The Lantern.

Delicately, I opened the pages up and set it on the floor before me. Carefully, I flipped through each page, my eyes searching and searching. And then, there it was. Delighted, my eyes kept reading the same four words over and over: Winter Opinion Columnist Wanted.

That’s me! I had thought excitedly to myself. I had opinions. I could sort of write. Plus, I thought that being a columnist in general was pretty darn cool. Me, a Winter Opinion Columnist for The Lantern? Why not? That evening, I submitted my application. If you put two and two together, you will notice that I am now writing to you in The Lantern, as a Winter Opinion Columnist. I made it.

What’s it like? You may now find yourself wondering. Inevitably, there are a lot of positives and negatives. But fortunately, there are more of the former than the latter.

The question of what to write about each week has disturbingly crowded my brain and seeped into nearly every nook and cranny of my life. It has become the bane of my existence during this cold and blustery quarter. The column seems to perpetually be on my mind, and I am constantly on the prowl for column-worthy news and moments.

Thinking up a topic to write about is more than half the battle. A young columnist could easily fall into the dangerous trap of believing that they didn’t have any opinions and that this whole columnist business may have been a grave mistake.

I have also found myself often placing my duties as a Lantern columnist above my own schoolwork. Although schoolwork is obviously important at this fine academic institution, there is a particular pressure to keep up and put forth quality pieces that other columnists will be proud of. The knowledge that thousands in the Ohio State University community and beyond will be reading your column is not always the most comforting thing to have running through a mind as you’re trying to formulate a cogent opinion with both eloquence and coherence before a deadline each week.

On the upside, you will get instant minor celebrity status on campus. If not the, “Hey, aren’t you that Lantern columnist?” then at least the person who thinks to themselves, “I know I’ve seen that face somewhere?”

Secondly, once you do have an opinion – particularly one that you might feel passionately about – you can let the whole school know. How many of your peers get to do that? Being an opinion columnist and having the freedom to write about whatever you want each week is a great vehicle for getting something that you truly believe in across to a wide population.

On the much more practical side, I truly do believe that being a columnist teaches invaluable skills that can be applied to a multiplicity of settings both presently and in the future. Most of us will be working careers that require us to succumb to some form of a deadline. Deadlines force us to manage our time better. Trust me, as a Lantern columnist, you will become more than familiar with working under a deadline.

Furthermore, learning how to give and receive constructive criticism are other valuable skills that become honed as a columnist. Fellow columnists will give their thoughts on your writings and you will get to do the same. And if not the constructive criticism from fellow columnists, one can always count on the supportive, bashing or downright weird e-mails that can often come from readers.

Being a Lantern opinion columnist is certainly not all fun and games, as you can read. But if you want a wide outlet for your voice to be heard, a chance to refine your writing abilities, the development of lifetime skills and a definite challenge … perhaps it’s the thing for you?