Friends,
I cut my teeth as a young journalist the same way many Waco journalists do: reporting on whatever fell on my desk at the Waco Tribune-Herald. The beat was, at times, mundane. The hours were long. My car’s mileage was rising. And I often wondered what caused me to stray from my original bigwig plans to be a neurosurgeon that led me here.
Was it the genetics class I failed that dampened my confidence? Was it a journalism professor who opened my eyes to a career I’d never considered before? Was it just a wild hair? Perhaps it was a delicate combination of each — plus all of the moments in my life that seemed out of place at the time but led me here, right where I’m meant to be.
That’s what the newest issue of Baylor Line Magazine is all about — Disruption. In fact, the very collection of pages before you went through its own series of twist, turns, and changes of plan before becoming the piece of art you see today. Early this year I set out on creating the Influential Issue, pondering the little things that ripple through life and the people who make a difference.
But we think Disruption — the title that stuck — more clearly defines the message we’re after.
And in rummaging through the archives for the perfect Classic article to close this issue, this quote from 1985’s A Tale Too Tragic stuck out to me:
When we read a chapter in a book, we cannot know in detail what is to come in following chapters — only what we have read so far. Certainly, in the case of Gordon Wilkerson, his family, and the family of Reza Emam, the book is not finished. But this chapter … has developed the plot in a way which cannot help but color the rest of the story.
Disruption is the uncertainty of chapter one, and the grand adventure revealed in the final chapter that you never could have foreseen. It’s taking a stand against the status quo and coming out on top. It’s those moments and decisions — big, little, offhand, and intentional — that sway the trajectory of our lives. Sometimes it’s the kick you need to get your life together. And sometimes it’s just the beginning of the story.
When you’re on page one, you can’t foresee how the book will end. I hope as you flip through this issue and read the stories of the Baylor Family you take a moment to reflect on the moments of disruption and influence in your own life.
All my best,
Kourtney Nering (’22)
Editor-in-chief, The Baylor Line
