Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of coming to college. I also dreamed I’d be a princess by now and have most of my life together. Obviously I am no princess. There is no way I could get a tiara in the amount of knots I have in my hair.

Now that I have finished college with a degree, piece by piece my life is slowly coming together. College is no easy task, and when you arrive as a freshman, it’s like an entirely different world.

That world may be meeting new people, joining new things, moving away and separating yourself from what was considered your childhood. Those things are difficult and for some people, the transition from high school to college isn’t easy.

Then throughout that new journey you are staying up late just to make an “A” on a paper, crying over “that one professor” who is giving you a hard time and staying up until 2 a.m. talking to your roommate because the guy you liked broke your heart.

Oh wait, I did all those things listed above! Most of that journey was fun and unlike anything, but naturally there were the ugly parts too. It’s crazy when you finally get to something that you’ve been dreaming of for so long because four years is a long time and A LOT changes.

When you’re going through those changes and studying for endless hours, it feels like you may never see the end. Then, take it from me, when the end comes it is a weight lifted off of your shoulders.

Now that I am at the end and am holding my graduation cap in my hands, I am looking back on all of the amazing things this university has taught me and all of the opportunities it has given me.

There are way too many things to list, but one of them being my journey and time here at The Nicholls Worth. I started writing for this place as a sophomore news editor then worked my way up to managing this website.

If you would have asked me then if I would have considered becoming Editor-in-Chief, I would have said no way. Then a year ago, I had a wonderful professor sit me down and convince me to take the Editor-in-Chief position.

Believe me when I say that it took a lot of convincing. In truth, when I started here, I was this quiet little journalist who hated asking questions in front of large groups of people, who hated when she had to have her stories critiqued in front of the class, and I surely didn’t like speaking at our weekly meetings.

Then the time came where that professor said “You can do this!” And ever since then so many things changed. I took the editor position and accomplished more than I thought was possible. Some of it was small things, but some of it was big things.

With this job for example, I may still be a quiet little journalist, but I am also the first one to volunteer at a hard-hitting breaking news story. It doesn’t matter what that story is, I will make sure I get there, ask questions, get quotes from several important people, take videos and pictures and that story will be completed within a few hours.

Never did I think I would be a writer covering protest marches, a pandemic and police arrests articles. That is a huge jump from when I first said I wanted to be a writer because I had no idea what I was in for.

The Nicholls Worth is truly a special place to work. To all the freshmen or anyone who is scared because they think they aren’t ready to take on such writing positions, trust me when I say you are ready because the Colonel Media Group offers more than just a job.

It offers you new friends that eventually become your family. Surrounding yourself with a positive work environment is the best thing you can get involved in.

Those friends will be there for you when you fail your first exam because trust me, it will happen. Those friends will be there for you when you forget to turn in an assignment that is considered three days late because trust me, it will happen. Those friends will be there when you are having a mental breakdown because your iced coffee didn’t taste the same as it did the day before because trust me when I say, it will happen.

The people that I have met in this group have offered me more friendships than I ever could have asked for. They are supportive and if you join this team, they will push you to be the best that you can be and if you let them, they will change your life in all the better ways.

Although my time as Editor-in-Chief has come to an end, it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

I am excited to say that I have accepted a wonderful job after I graduate and I got into graduate school all the way in Boston, which I will start this fall. I don’t think any of this would have happened if it weren’t for that one professor who sat me down at The Nicholls Worth and said “You can do this!”

You may hear me say that I am not ready to graduate because that is true. How could anyone want to leave such a wonderful place? But I also know that I have so many more things to look forward to. So, Nicholls Worth, this isn’t a goodbye letter, but a thank you letter for all you have given me.

I’ve always said The Nicholls Worth is like my child because it needs love and a whole lot of attention. It’s an on-going job that no matter how tired you are, you keep going back to it.

I hope that every young student who reads this will take the opportunity to work for the Colonel Media Group and I hope they fall in love with it just as much as I did because you never know what memories and experience it will give you after you graduate.