My name is Holly Baer and I am officially the new opinion editor for the Daily Mississippian. I’m a senior religious studies major and a gender studies minor from Flowood, Mississippi.
I’m Mississippi-born and bred. My family lives in Collins, a small town in south Mississippi. Other than 6 months in fourth grade, I’ve spent the entirety of my life in a state I both adore and find problematic.
I originally came to the University of Mississippi as an international studies/religious studies double major with the intent to become a missionary. After a tumultuous— but incredibly interesting— emotional journey, I started writing about my religious experiences and opinions as an ex-believer in the South. I became a writer for the Patheos blog “Godless in Dixie,” and I won an award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation for an opinion article I wrote for The Daily Mississippian last semester.
I’ll be graduating in May from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, and I am currently writing my thesis on women’s religious experiences in the South. After graduation I hope to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, focusing in poetry, or pursue gainful employment at a real-life grown-up job (probably).
I’ve changed so much over my undergraduate career, and I’m hoping that I can use my perspective to create an open space in the Opinion section. I hope to create an open dialogue, and encourage writers from various walks of life and circumstances.
As the Opinion editor, I hope to encourage students to write about their personal life as well as broader issues affecting our community, our country and our world.
I encourage students to treat the section as a place to voice their concerns, their fears and their joys. While we have regular columnists, I hope to expand the current group. I welcome students to send one-off opinion articles. So much is happening on campus, and I want to hear how you’ve interpreted these changes and the newness and strangeness of life in college. The Opinion section is a perfect venue to shout your bias loudly.
Welcome to the newest era of the Opinion section. I hope you’ll join me in reading thought-provoking discussions on the nature of reality to each of us, and join in the dialogue about what life can and should be on campus and beyond.
Please submit any questions or concerns to thedmopinion@gmail.com. I welcome your criticisms and your contributions. Happy spring semester, y’all.
This is me, your new opinion editor
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