Invasion of Privacy: Photo Editor Faith Zatlukal

Photo courtesy of Photo Editor, Faith Zatlukal

Faith has brought their fun energy into The Lamron photos and office for the past few semesters, and will be greatly missed by the returning staff members.

Faith Zatlukal, The Lamron’s Photo Editor, is a senior mathematics major and a communication minor at SUNY Geneseo. They discussed their interest in both subjects, noting the interconnectedness of math in the universe and its application to interpersonal communication. They emphasize the importance of seizing opportunities in college and avoiding wasting time. Along with having a passion for photography, they share a strong opinion about Doctor Who (2005– ) and DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016-2022). 

They chose Geneseo for its small size, financial aid, and math department reputation. Zatlukal also made a point to mention their mother, Amy Zatlukal, a SUNY Geneseo alumni: “It made it easier because I'm her oldest kid, and I was the first one to leave, so I think it made it easier for her, more comfortable knowing the space.”

Zatlukal joined the school newspaper, The Lamron, to branch out and make new friends, eventually convincing their other friends to join as well. Here, Zatlukal manages photos for articles and takes campus pictures. “I get together all the photos for all 25 articles every week, and I make them into black and white, and I upload all of them so it's easy for everyone, and I make sure that we're not going to get sued. And I also take some pictures of things on campus or events or people.” 

When asked how they got into photography, Zatlukal explained. “When I was a little kid, my parents bought me one of those Canon kids cameras, like one of the really bulky ones that you can't break, and it was pink, and I really liked it”; they continued, “There are still albums on my mom's Facebook that are pictures from Faith's camera. And I think it's really silly, but also I enjoy it.”

I asked Zatlukal to expand on the interconnectedness between math and communication. They explained that everything is secretly math, including the universe, magnetic fields, and biology: “The whole world is. It is like magnetic fields and biology, and it's not all. Everything is secretly math. That's why math is always involved.” They pointed out that math is involved in communication more directly through elements such as media statistics. 

When asked about life after Geneseo, Zatlukal expressed plans to further their qualifications; “I might take the actuary exams…exams you take to become an actuarial scientist, which is when you do stuff, like, it's hard to describe, but it's mostly, like, statistics and data science.” Zatlukal explains, “It's the kind of person who decides how much money your life insurance policy is worth based on a sheet of paper with all the facts about you. Very like the people who decide that, you know, [that] teenage boys pay more in car insurance than teenage girls.” 

About the process of joining The Lamron, Zatlukal said, “I thought about it for a bunch of years, but I never did it because I was nervous, because I didn't think any of my friends would want to come because some of my friends weren't the best at being involved in the past, but the one year, I just decided that I kind of want to branch out on my out and make some new friends. So, I sent in an application to The Lamron saying that I would like to take photos for them because I'm not a very good writer, um, and they were looking for a photo editor.”

Zatlukal has now been a part of The Lamron for the past two years and has encouraged their roommates and friends to join, too. “I convinced all my friends who are better writers than me to join and become editors. Now, my friends have taken over The Lamron, and I've also made lots of new friends.”

They reflected on how their writing skills have grown while working for The Lamron, “I’ve definitely gotten better at it because now my articles aren't edited as much, and I’ve definitely gotten better at writing movie reviews because that's all I’ve been doing this semester.” Zatlukal has taken a particular interest in writing about their favorite shows and movies. “I have enjoyed doing, like, a couple of interview articles and stuff I used to do for news, but now, you can count on me to sit down and whip out an 800-word article about something I'm really into, like TV, music, and movies.”

As this is Zatlukal’s last semester, I asked them if they had any advice for new or returning students. “I’ve started trying to do more things that I want to do before I run out of time. I think that a lot of people in college don’t really realize that they’re running out of time to do a lot of things that they can only do in college.” 

They go on to say, “We probably shouldn’t have waited as long as we did to get into The Lamron and start going to events. Everyone always waits until the end; it’s the same thing in high school: You always wait until the end, and then you do it when you should have done it from the beginning.” Zatlukal adds, “Also, don’t wait to drop those nasty friends. Don't spend time with people you don't like. Don't do things that you don't want to do. Do things that make you happy, and don't waste your time with things that don’t.”