(SPOILERS FOR TOP GUN (1986))
Every year, the Editor-in-Chief of The Roundup writes a final farewell piece that entails his experiences with the newspaper. Top Gun: Maverick basically does the same thing, but replace The Roundup with Tom Cruise’s filmography.
As many critics have noted, Top Gun: Maverick acknowledges that despite his death-defying stunts, Tom Cruise is getting old. The film works as an astonishing piece of action cinema, filled with extravagant flight sequences that surpass the original in quality. This quality comes from a balance of old and new techniques, making the film feel both classical and modern.
This balance between classical and modern film techniques is what I’d like to think I did as Editor-in-Chief this year. For example, I adopted many of the same notes and ideas from my predecessors; however, I tried to add some new things. This past year The Roundup allowed for students from Ursuline to write for our paper. This year we finally won our annual Expository Bowl game. These serve as examples of building upon the past.
In the film, Tom Cruise’s Maverick is now a flight instructor for Top Gun, and he must prepare his students for an impossible mission (hehe.) Among these students is Rooster, played by Miles Teller of Whiplash, the son of Maverick’s deceased friend and co-pilot Goose. The two characters must battle their demons in order to successfully pull off the mission.
My experiences with The Roundup were no where close to being that dramatic, but successful leadership requires one to set aside his/her ego. The best result comes from collaboration, and The Roundup moved smoothest when everyone pitched in ideas for a project, like the Expository Bowl.
With great collaboration there must be great collaborators. Top Gun requires its students to be the best of the best, and a Roundup EIC should surround himself with the best of the best. That’s why I chose Ajay Bhavan ’22 to be my Managing Editor, why Grant Kostos ’22 was my News Editor, why Joel Elms ’22 was my Sports Editor, why Tyler Gazzam ’22 was my Viewpoint Editor, and why Saad Zulqarnain ’22 was my Media Editor. These guys were not only great collaborators because of their great work ethic, but also because they were great people.
My time as Editor-in-Chief has been beyond meaningful, and I hope my successors can find the same meaningfulness and camaraderie.
PS: Go see Top Gun: Maverick. It’s wonderful.
