Every writer knows the moment.
It’s often late at night, when words blur together on your screen and you wonder why you thought you could pin down such a slippery thought. You read a sentence aloud, hoping your voice might uncover what your mind cannot, and then you feel it: the sentence that falls into place, the argument that finds its spine, the moment the page feels like an extension of yourself.
That is Opinion writing. Writing that matters always feels personal. It asks you to risk a piece of yourself, knowing you cannot control how it will be received.
But Opinion is not just the lone writer in the night. It is also a department full of projects and collaborations that turn individual voices into conversations. Columnists face off in opposing columns in our Eclipse series, or contribute to spreads where everyone tackles the same topic from different angles. They write news analysis, cultural critiques, even occasional commentary on the arts world. The world is your stage, and The Sun is your microphone.
We aren’t looking for writers who fill space. We are looking for those who bring fragile ideas and sharpen them into arguments, who embrace the risk of publishing and the strange power of having their words move into classrooms, group chats, and dining halls. At pitch meetings, a thin, uncertain voice joins others until it becomes stained glass, fragile shards luminous in community.
Opinion will teach you that lesson again and again. The first time someone recognizes you from your work, you realize your writing has stepped beyond you. The first time you risk a pitch, you learn the value of being heard. The first time you sit down for a live edit, you understand your writing no longer belongs to you, but to the world. By your fifth pitch meeting, you are shaping conversations and defining what Opinion could be.
That rhythm has carried me from my first column in freshman fall to my most recent editorial. I once dismissed the idea of becoming Opinion Editor; now I cannot imagine Cornell without The Sun.
So I will not persuade you to take the risk — if the pull is not already there, perhaps Opinion is not meant for you. What I can tell you is that the risk is worth it. Bring your late-night sentences, your fragile ideas, your unfinished thoughts. Bring the part of yourself you are willing to risk. You will find what I found: that The Sun embraces all of you back.
Apply here, applications due September 19th at midnight.
See you at the next pitch meeting,
Sophia Dasser
Sophia Dasser freshman Computer Science and Philosophy major in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the Opinion Editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. Her column Dass(er) The Point explores the intersection of technology, ethics, and social justice, with a focus on the overlooked and underrepresented. She can be reached at sdasser@cornellsun.com.
