In 2008, I found myself at a crossroads — I needed to leave my job as a newspaper journalist, but what would be next? I had spent three years of my undergraduate degree working in student media — as a photographer and photo editor at the newspaper, as a columnist and writer for the magazine and as an art director and editor-in-chief for the literary & arts journal. I saw a job opening for a student media adviser at SCAD, and applied for it, even though I had no idea what exactly an adviser does.

 What I’ve witnessed over the past 15 years at three different universities is that student media is often the only organization on a college campus that gives students autonomy — students decide what they want to cover, and they get to do it without prior review or other interference from the adults. That autonomy grants students the incredible opportunity to learn and grow and develop in profound ways. They learn how to produce credible and ethical journalism, meet deadlines, be leaders, manage their peers and respond to criticism, all the while balancing full class loads, part-time jobs and personal lives. Beyond that, they are learning in real time, producing work consumed by the outside world — very much breaking their test tubes in public, the ultimate experiential education opportunity.

 While I’m not graduating, I am preparing for a career change — leaving full-time student media advising and App State to transition into a faculty role at another institution. I will take with me into the classroom everything I’ve learned from my students over the years at The Appalachian, The Peel and all the other student media outlets I’ve had the opportunity to advise. To my students and alumni near and far: please keep telling the stories worth telling, even when difficult, because what you do matters more now than ever.