When I came to Columbia in Fall 2017, I was a transfer student from Moraine Valley Community College and a commuter who knew nothing about navigating the city. My first year at Columbia was not the best; I pretty much went to class and went home, and in between classes I would get lunch by myself and take naps in the library.

I’m not the most chatty person so it was hard for me at first to make relationships with classmates. But, in Spring 2018 I took the “College Newspaper Workshop” course and began partnering with the Chronicle to write contributing articles. I knew instantly I wanted to work there.

Going into the Chronicle as an employee, I had only published two articles from College Newspaper Workshop, and I never worked on a newspaper before then—my high school didn’t even have one and I never joined the one at my community college.

Now, I’m not usually one to get all sentimental and mushy, but honestly, the Chronicle quickly became the best part of my college experience. Who needs college parties when you can have the thrill of writing a breaking news story?

Through the Chronicle, I attended events and shows I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to, and now I feel I have more knowledge of the campus and the city than the average person does. By having weekly bylines and learning endlessly, I was lucky enough to work with amazing people who are more than just coworkers. Now at school, I have people to goof off with, gossip with and go to lunch with.

There are countless people to name and I’ll probably forget some of you, but I am so incredibly lucky to call you all my coworkers and friends. To my partner in crime, Kaci Watt, thank you for listening to my complaints, helping me write my articles, giving me a place to stay on late nights and going on ice cream runs with me.

Thank you to all the staffers who I’ve shared a special bond with, especially Alexandra Yetter, Bridget Ekis, Dyana Daniels, Lauren Leazenby and Mari Devereaux.

Thank you to Curtis Lawrence and Travis Truitt for being exceptional mentors, who taught me to look at the little details with great care. Curtis, I’ll miss all of your hilarious comments, and Travis, as much as I hate to say it, I’ll miss your puns.

Thank you to the amazing professors at Columbia—Betsy Edgerton, Stephanie Goldberg, Noah Isackson and Sam Roe—who have taught me everything I know about journalism and inspired me to push myself further. I can’t forget my professors at Moraine Valley Community College—William Hogan, Jeffrey McCully and Eric Devillez—you helped me figure out what path I wanted to take and helped shape my writing in ways I didn’t even realize until looking back.

Thank you to my family—I feel like I’m giving an Oscar speech—for letting me go a little bit off the beaten path and always staying by my side no matter what.

I don’t exactly have a plan for what’s next but I have a sneaking suspicion everything will work out. As the great Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote, “There’s a million things I haven’t done, just you wait.”