Hannah Jacobs: Experiencing the pure magic of Kerckhoff 118

While in my tenure as the assistant producer of the Video section in my third year at the Daily Bruin, a typical conversation with my mom would involve a fair amount of ranting about all the work I had ahead of me for the night at the office and end with her telling me, “Remember, school should be your first priority.” And I would respond with a chuckle and tell her, “Don’t be silly. The paper comes first.”

I chose to go to UCLA for many reasons, including my intense love for Bruin football and a record of relatives attending the school. I wanted to come here because I wanted the history and the community that comes with a school like ours. I wanted to be a part of that special something that makes UCLA so great. I eventually found my place in Kerckhoff 118.

The Daily Bruin has been a place where I have been able to learn and grow not only as a video-maker and journalist, but as a person. I learned about the type of person I want to be and where I wanted to see my professional life head toward. It has been a large part of my identity for the past four years, and along the way, I joined a family of the absolute coolest, hippest and most talented people I know. In a sea of adolescence and uncertainty, the Daily Bruin gave me somewhere to belong.

The minute I walk through the doors of Kerckhoff 118, a whole new world opens up.

The Radio desk is the first one you see, a section of quiet success before bursting in on the chaos that is the rest of the office. Section after section is lined up around the room, every surface covered in old papers, mockups for future editions, old homework, snacks, headphones, books and God knows what else. The computers are outdated and there are never enough cups for the water cooler. Every day is a struggle for at least one person searching for a fork, as everyone eats all meals past noon in the office. We often joke that our small paychecks are only there to pay for the extensive amount of Panda Express and Carl’s Jr. we are forced to eat out of lack of access to our own kitchens.

The way I like to phrase it is that this particular room is the literal heart of Kerckhoff, right in the center of everything. Every day in the office is filled with a sense of purpose. The quality of the workforce that pulses through the cubicles and bleeds out onto every issue cannot be matched by that of any professional company I can imagine. What drives students to give up any and all free time they have to produce a newspaper that has a declining readership in a dying industry for very little or no pay?

It is because we love it. We are addicted to it. Our blood runs black with ink. We will defend the Daily Bruin until our last dying day. We feed on the thrill that comes with covering breaking news or fast-approaching deadlines. We need to fill our long hours with phone calls and emails. Our days are not complete unless we spend a good solid few hours in the office, whether it’s to work on a story or just be a part of the culture. We are bonded in the all-nighters and retreats, the parties and the breaking news. We bask in the immortality we have secured for ourselves in the pages we print and the stories we tell. Our names will live on. Our legacies will be discovered and remembered.

I attended UCLA from 2011 to 2015. I took classes, made friends, discovered who I am and became a part of the Bruin community. However, what I will remember most are the days I spent in that dirty office with the best people I ever had the pleasure to work with creating history. To me, the Daily Bruin was magical.

Hannah Jacobs was a Video reporter from 2011-2012, Video senior staff from 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 and assistant Video producer from 2013-2014.