FIONA: Arriving at Cherubs had been my only thought for months, but the longer I sat on the tarmac, the more my anxiety grew. I left the plane and hauled my suitcase into a taxi, and the 40 minute drive to Jones Hall began.
Every red light and hoard of pedestrians that delayed our arrival was torturous. My dread felt uncontrollable, until a familiar name popped up in my Instagram notifications, one I hadn’t seen in 2 years since leaving another journalism program.
FRANCESCA: My dad had been snoring, and my knees ached from the stress of starting a new program — I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t fix that, but I iced my knees with two Red Bulls from the mini fridge at 4 a.m. on the bathroom floor. Later that morning, I was one of the first to arrive and one of the first to receive the list of names of other cherubs. As my eyes made their way down the list, there was Fiona Hagan. Suddenly, my nerves eased.
I hesitated to send a DM, thinking, somehow, there was another Fiona Hagan who had a raging passion for journalism. But on the off chance that we would reconnect, I sent, “WAIT RU DOING CHERUBS I SWEAR I SAW UR NAME.”
FIONA: “YES OMG!!” I responded to Francesca’s message. Immediately my stress melted into excitement as I was reminded of the memories we shared.
FIONA AND FRANCESCA: We had hugged goodbye 723 days earlier. And 723 days later, we found ourselves hugging again, thanks to the small world of journalism.
Just like that. NYC turned into Evanston, Shakespeare & Co turned into Colectivo, Buffalo Exchange turned into Heyday Vintage and the music of Dougie Poole turned into Clairo and Chappel Roan.
Cherubs gave us four extra weeks to spend together. Though our time was limited, we packed our schedules with sunset beach trips, broadcast club on Sunday afternoons, library picnics and walks into town for ice cream.
As we learned from guest instructor Bret Begun’s “Five Year Plan” lecture, journalism is all about who you know and the connections you sustain across your career. Journalism brought us together twice, and we know it is destined to bring us together again.
“YIPIDEEDOO.” To which the other responds, “WAHOOOO.” This is our own call and response that we would have never created without Cherubs.
Even when we’re on opposite sides of the country, we can “YIPIDEEDOO” and “WAHOOOO” to know the other is there.
