David Allegri:  Inter-staff relationships during my time on Harbinger have proved to teach me more than just journalistic skills

As my fellow staffers reminisce about deadline dance parties, stressful writing competitions or staying up until 2 a.m. to finish stories, there’s one thing that made my Harbinger experience unique  — inter-staff relationships.

When I initially joined Harbinger, I wanted to improve my skills as a writer and learn how to become well-versed in social media and mass communications, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was also strongly influenced by my then-girlfriend who was on staff. 

My mom used to warn me when I was watching “The Office” that relationships in the workplace will never work out. While I thought we’d be the Jim and Pam of high school journalism, I quickly learned that the NBC show’s dynamics don’t translate as seamlessly as I’d hoped in real life. 

Within a month of being on staff, I had written three stories, designed a page and broken up with one girlfriend. For a whole semester I had to deal with many awkward conversations and glares that I felt deep in my soul. Luckily I outlasted her — she quit Harbinger the following semester.

After attempting to mix oil and water — Harbinger and girls — you would’ve thought I had learned my lesson, but as a now-single high school boy on a 90% female staff, it was unavoidable that there was more drama to come. 

The next semesters followed a similar pattern — what started as a conversation with a staffer at a deadline led to a situationship for the next month or two. My inherent “rizz” led to two awards at our end-of-year banquet for “The Most Rizz” and “The Most Likely to Leave Deadline for a Girl.”

Amid my 3-year long stint as the Harbinger bachelor, I was still able to walk away with valuable skills like writing a full length news story in under an hour, taking cutthroat criticism from Tate and navigating the digital design labyrinth of Adobe. But to my mom’s  — and my editors’ — inevitable dismay, I’m talking about my Harbinger love life.

So to sum up my time on Harbinger, I’ve written 43 stories, won eight journalism awards, had four on-staff situationships, two ex-girlfriends and three years of the most exciting, life-changing class that I’ve ever been a part of  — and I wouldn’t change a thing.