In August of 2021, a shy freshman with an interest in politics fell out of a coconut tree and into The Appalachian’s newsroom. He wrote with oxford commas, didn’t know how to attribute a quote and found his way into photos of protests that he wasn’t allowed to be in. 

That freshman is me, now a senior with four election cycles, hundreds of stories, hours of late nights and one college journalism career I am proud to call my own.  

 I didn’t know anyone when I first joined The Appalachian. However, when I reflect on my time here, the memories that come to me the most are those made with the people I now call close friends. 

I remember late night Waffle House debriefs after long meetings with Jenna Guzman and Siri Patterson. I remember the laughs with Ashton Woodruff and El Shedrick, giggling conversations with Mia Seligman and the texts with Vivian Parks and Leah Boone while we were literally in the same room. I remember the silly conversations and jokes with Hayden Wittenborn and the comforting consolations with Kaitlyn Close. 

My time at The Appalachian doesn’t feel like my own; it feels like a shared experience with all the people around me — the people to whom I will say goodbye. 

My favorite author, C.S. Lewis said friendship had no “survival value” but that it was “one of those things that gives value to survival.”

The friends I have made gave value to my survival, they walked me through times of great joy, stress and sadness. I am forever grateful to the people who have been with me through this time because they have given me the greatest blessing in my life. 

I now have another tree to fall out of and although I am not sure where I will land, my experience at The Appalachian has taught me to embrace whatever is next.