Invasion of Privacy: Sarah Sharples
“Actually, I water my plants first,” said editor-in-chief of The Lamron Sarah Sharples when asked about the first thing they do in the morning. “Then I brush my teeth, then I meditate. This is why I get the least relatable character on a Buzzfeed quiz.”
Sharples is a junior English major on the literature track, minoring in women’s and gender studies. In only their second year at Geneseo, Sharples has managed to accomplish quite an impressive list of things. In addition to serving as editor-in-chief of The Lamron, they also started up SUNY Geneseo’s first queer literary magazine, Iris Magazine, last semester. I sat down with them to get to know a little bit more about them and how they ended up as editor-in-chief of The Lamron.
When asked what they value most in a friend, Sharples said, “Shared interests.” It’s no wonder, then, that the idea of running Geneseo’s student newspaper would appeal to them. “Engaging with people on things that I find interesting and collaborating with people about cool ideas is probably one of my favorite things to do, so I think that’s a pretty important level of connection that I have with people in my life.”
It’s clear that connecting with other creatives at college is a priority for Sharples. When asked their favorite part of Geneseo, they shared, “I’m very grateful for the people that I have met here. I would say the fact that it has introduced me to so many relationships that I genuinely treasure [is my favorite thing about Geneseo].”
Sharples is an avid music listener and says their favorite musical artist is Sidney Gish. In their busy daily schedule, they say they wish they had more time for reading for fun. “All I do is read for class,” they shared. Such is the life of an English major. Sharples says they have always known they needed to major in English because they “have never known anything else.”
“I think that there are alternative timelines where I do something like sociology or public policy, because those were also things that I was really passionate about in high school, but that…is why I chose my minor…it was an intersection of a lot of other things that I was passionate about,” they said. “I always wanted to be a writer, and then as I grew up, I understood that I felt more comfortable and more productive in working with people on their writing than I did working on my own writing.”
Sharples is also editor-in-chief of Iris Magazine, Geneseo’s first queer literary magazine that they founded this fall semester. I was curious which organization other than The Lamron or Iris they would choose to be in charge of.
“The answer is definitely Beekeeping Club,” they said. “I don’t know anything about it, but I would love to try.” Sharples said if they could pick anyone to switch lives with on campus for a day, they would choose Chip Matthews. “I just wanna see what it’s like,” they said, laughing.
Sharples says if they could travel anywhere in the world, they would go to Bhutan. “It’s the base of a lot of Eastern philosophy and a lot of meditation practices that really resonate with me, and I always feel like an appropriator of Eastern religion having used a lot of it to practice in my everyday life and not actually having engaged in many conversations with people about it,” Sharples said. “I think that the nature is beautiful and I would love to engage with that space, just to be able to experience the actual foundations of those philosophies, of those religions, of those practices that influence me so much…I want to learn more about it.”
As we spoke, it became even more clear how passionate and driven of a leader Sharples is, and just how many different facets of experience they bring to the table. Being editor-in-chief is no easy feat, and here at The Lamron, we are so grateful for the hard work and dedicated leadership Sharples has given to us so far this semester.