College has been an interesting time of my life.
I started here in the fall of 2020 following the start of a pandemic, the cancellation of a proper high school graduation and a tumultuous home life. Most of my first semester was spent on Zoom calls with a rough housing situation and trying to keep myself healthy amidst one of the biggest historical events I had ever lived through. There were a few weekends I could not go home because someone got the virus, and I only heard about it right before I was supposed to leave. My emotional state was a wreck, I was trying to figure out financial issues and I got a very limited view of the campus that I had seen in a tour just a few months before.
Despite every odd stacked against me, I made it through all four years.
Four years of late-night cram sessions, textbooks of varying degrees of importance, little sleep, hours of therapy, so many papers and, of course, a whole plethora of other issues both in and out of my control.
I did, however, learn something while I was here: it is the little things that keep me going.
The birds tweeting at 4 in the morning, one dollar sodas in the vending machines in the laundry rooms at Browning and Ellington, someone greeting me at the front desk, regardless of how I was feeling or how late to a class I was, the M&M’s ice cream sandwiches in On the Fly, the friendly staff at various facilities recognizing me after I visited frequently and being able to watch completed assignments vanish on Canvas. All of those built to something great even though I was really going through it at varying points in my college career.
I am thankful for all of those things and the people who helped make some of them happen.
First and foremost, I want to thank Ms. Tomi McCutchen for being such a huge help in my entire college career. She has been my boss, my adviser and, on some level, my friend. Her help has been invaluable, and her quick responses help ease some of my worries.
Dr. Nanney, I want to thank you for providing plenty of feedback on my work throughout the various classes I have had with you. You always seem to have an interesting view and some perfect insight into what a story needs.
Dr. Rutledge, thank you for helping me figure out the various programs needed to help do my job. I know I am gonna miss ending up getting a class with you in the computer lab on the third floor of Gooch.
Lastly, I just want to thank the MMSC department in general. I came to Martin pursuing a degree and a career in communications and found people willing to support each other’s goals. I could not be happier that this is where I ended up. Sure, there were a lot of ups and downs to get here, but I feel the people made it worth it.
It is time for me to head onto greener pastures and to whatever comes next, even if it is not exactly where I want to end up now. To quote the dolphins’ final message from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “So long and thanks for all the fish.”
