Rob Musial first delved into the world of journalism while working as an editor for his high school's paper. With the paper being called The Echo, little did he know that he would later join another publication with a similar name.
After two years of community college, Musial began attending Eastern Michigan University in the fall of 1968 with hopes of becoming a teacher.
During his first semester, he walked past The Eastern Echo's office, which was located in a house on Cross Street. He soon decided to join the staff as a feature writer. Within two years, Musial transitioned from working as a feature writer to the feature editor, to then becoming the editor in chief in 1970.
Under new leadership came new changes to the production process. Musial's team went from printing two issues a week to then printing three, publishing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The first issue in the fall semester of 1970 was one that Musial remembers well. It was a four-section, 42-page edition. It was also the paper's first edition to run full-color photos on the front page.
"It felt like we were writing a whirlwind cause news was happening all over the place," Musial said.
Some stories covered under Musial's leadership were the creation of the Black studies major and minor, the formation of the Native American Student Association, the rise of dormitory theft, and an Echo editorial calling for a change in the university's symbol.
"Later on, I look back on it, and I go, 'Holy cats, that was a lot of just an incredible amount of work,' and fortunately I had a really good staff. I mean, I had just wonderful people ... " Musial said.
His staff was comprised of about 30 individuals. Eight to 10 staff members would regularly work in the office, while others would drop off their stories.
During his time as editor in chief, Musial formed friendships with his staff. He also lived in an off-campus house with the business manager, the feature editor, the photography editor, the classified ad manager, and a former editor in chief of the paper.
"This was like The Echo dormitory, and that put you in proximity with people who really liked student journalism, and I think that was good," Musial said.
While working for the paper, Musial won two Michigan Collegiate Press Awards. The paper also won its fourth consecutive All-American Award from the Associated Collegiate Press under his leadership.
Musial graduated from Eastern in the spring of 1971. He left wanting to further pursue journalism after experiencing a realization while student teaching.
"I realized, 'Geez, I would rather write than teach kids how to write,'" Musial said.
Following his graduation, Musial worked for a weekly newspaper for one year before joining the Detroit Free Press as a copywriter.
In this position, he worked in the marketing department to edit the employee magazine. He then transitioned into the role of a reporter where he covered suburban news.
While covering suburban news, Musial received a call asking for help in locating a lost brother. The brothers had been separated at the ages of 8 and 10.
"'Well, I'll give it a try,' I said. 'I can't promise anything,'" Musial said.
After calling multiple Secretary of State offices, Musial was able to determine that the lost brother had been living in Hawaii and had been working as a sailor. He then gave the brother's name and phone number to the caller, and the brothers were reunited.
"I tried to do stuff like that sort of on my own, in between the daily assignments; stuff I was interested in or stuff that I thought would make a good story," Musial said.
Musial later moved to covering city news. He notes that he did do news reporting, but he also wrote feature stories as he has always had a "feature-kind-of-bent."
"They're people stories as opposed to processed stories ... people are just interesting and fascinating," Musial said.
While at the Detroit Free Press, Musial won an Associated Press award for a story on a fire that happened inside a rundown apartment building and killed seven of the residents.
The Detroit Free Press strike in 1995 led to Musial working as a feature editor for the union's weekly Sunday paper called the Detroit Sunday Journal. After two years in that position, he began working as the entertainment editor for the Oakland Press.
While in that position, he was flown down to Honduras in 1998 to cover a hurricane's damage. Alongside him on the flight were reporters from different news organizations, a television news crew, and relief supplies that were to be provided to those affected.
On the way back from the trip, his laptop was not working. With hopes of having a story written and sent to be published the next morning, he used an air phone to read his story out to the editor from The Oakland Press.
"I was like, coming up with something on the spur of the moment, and sometimes you have to do that in journalism," Musial said. "You learn to make do and do the best you can with what you have."
During his time at The Oakland Press, Musial won an award from the Michigan Press Association for his columns, which were published Sundays.
After The Oakland Press was bought, he got a position at Ford Motor Co., where he worked for the company's online news bureau by producing the monthly employee magazine.
Musial has since retired, but occasionally freelances, and is now being recognized by The Eastern Echo's Hall of Fame Committee. He will be receiving The Eastern Echo Hall of Fame award at this year's Student Media Gala on March 28.
Chaired by Kevin Allen, the committee annually receives and evaluates the nominations of Echo alumni who have excelled in the journalistic realm. A recipient for the award is then selected from these nominations.
Musial was nominated by Geoff Larcom, the former executive director of media relations at Eastern and a former reporter and editor at the Ann Arbor News.
Larcom knew of Musial as his mother, Helen Larcom, taught one of Musial's journalism classes at Eastern. Larcom also was connected with Musial by working at the Ann Arbor News while Musial simultaneously worked at the Detroit Free Press.
When explaining his reasoning for nominating Musial, Larcom pointed to writing, reporting, editing and managing.
"Those are the four amazing aspects of high-level work with any newspaper, and he touched all the bases, which is to his great credit," Larcom said.
Musial said it is an honor to be recognized.
"I couldn't have done it and I couldn't have gotten this award without all of the talented kids I worked with," Musial said.
Addressing all aspiring journalists, Musial emphasized trying to have fun and to even suggest stories.
"If you can tell a story and do it accurately, there will always be some sort of a job for you," Musial said.
