I’m not really good with good-byes. At the same time, I’m not one of those “leave the money on the dresser and sneak out” types either so I’ll make this fairly straightforward.
Between the deadlines, the jokes, the stories and the people, this place is going to be hard to forget. Not only because the memories are so fond but because it’s hard to forget a place where you are one step away from putting your shampoo in the bathroom on the second floor of the Dan Rather Building and having your mail forwarded to the newsroom.
Journalism has always been a passion of mine and my time on staff has allowed me to experiment and do things I would not have had a chance to do otherwise. From sitting ringside at an MMA fight for a feature story, to sitting courtside for an interview with the Harlem Globetrotters, to nudging my way through the press in the spin room after the Presidential debate in Austin, I am still in disbelief that I have experienced all these things within the past year.
While it is the events that have opened doors for me, it is the unique, odd and hilarious people I work with that have opened my mind, which is what college is all about. For this, I hope to leave something with each of them.
TO BRAD: Free food and black-rimmed glasses. With these gifts, you can stop mooching off campus events and finally feel like Jermaine.
TO KELSEY: Peeps. The food, the sugar ball, the microwavable entertainment.
TO CHRISTI: Robot arms. It’s a bad habit. Try to kick it as soon as possible.
TO RACHAEL: A creepy old man who knows nothing about cars and a 2-liter bottle of water. Pour the water on the radiator and smile and nod while Creepy McCreeperson looks in your windshield wiper fluid for your coolant.
TO BRYAN: More faxes from the future via time lapse continuum and my boyfriend, Bryson.
Thanks to Mr. Blackman for believing in me and encouraging me to push the limits with my reporting. Thanks to the entire staff for making each day in the newsroom a new adventure. I don’t think I have ever had so much fun working with a group of people. Thanks to Bryson for being the most perfect man and being there through every story and every deadline since high school. Thanks to everyone reading this for well acknowledging we have a school paper.
We don’t do this for the bylines, we do this for you.
Signing off, Jessica.