Patrick Fahey

With large, thick-rimmed glasses and a black beanie perched lazily on his head, a quiet, scruffy-looking boy shuffles into class with two minutes to spare. Dropping his backpack, Emerson College freshman Patrick Fahey straightens his plaid button-up shirt and slouches in his chair.

Originally from Halifax, Mass., Fahey came to Emerson as a print journalism major.

“I loved that [Emerson] was close to home, because I didn’t want to leave Boston,” Fahey, 18 said. “And I felt it had a really good program for journalism and [I knew that] a lot of successful journalists have come from here; I really couldn’t picture myself somewhere else, especially at this point.”

Fahey’s friend and suitemate, Emerson freshman Patrick McDermott, says that he and Fahey hit it off immediately.

“My first impression of Pat was someone who is chill, funny, really into music, and overall just a nice guy,” McDermott said. “[It] was very accurate and hasn’t changed—just evolved. I now feel like Pat is a very genuine dude and I know when he says something, he really means it.”

Though he’s majoring in print journalism, Fahey’s love of music and film ultimately drive his future career goals, which include writing reviews for magazines such as “Rolling Stone” and “Spin.”

“If I could have it perfect, I would be living either in Boston or L.A. and doing something with music,” Fahey said. “Whether it was working management with bands, or setting up shows, or writing for a major magazine or publication actually making some money.”

His face lighting up at the question, Fahey’s passion for music is immediately evident as he struggles to name his favorite artists.

“I listen to—and I don’t mean to be one of those people that say it—but I really do listen to anything…that requires some serious thought behind it, something well-thought out,” Fahey said. “I would love to cover the Boston music scene because I feel like there are a lot of bands coming out of here that love what they do, and there’s a wide variety of music here that you can sort of mess with.”

One band emerging from Boston is Fahey’s himself, in which he plays the drums, though he did not go into detail.

“I play a lot of different instruments,” Fahey said. “I started when I was younger; I played the piano a little bit and, dorkily enough, played the clarinet, and then in high school I picked up the guitar and drums. I have a band in Boston and write my own stuff too; just stuff on the side—whatever gets done between classes. But [I mainly play] the drums.”

However, Fahey refuses to give up on a career in music journalism, despite his talent and devotion to music itself.

“I’d like to live an experience like the movie ‘Almost Famous,’” Fahey said. “That’s like the epitome of a music journalism story.”

These goals reassure Fahey in his choice of colleges, as well as the multitude of opportunities he believes that Emerson offers him, even outside of his major.

“My favorite thing [about Emerson] is that I feel like I’m never going to run out of interesting things that I could be a part of,” Fahey said. “In high school, when [Emerson representatives] showed us all the majors, I found myself being like, ‘Well, I kind of want to do all of these.’”

Though pleased with his current situation, Fahey laughs at thought of his uncertain future.

“I’ll probably be working my way up a newspaper, writing stories about people’s cats,” Fahey said. “But that’s okay; I can write on my death bed.”