It’s hard to believe how fast the past four years have gone and more importantly the last two and a half, which have mostly been spent down in the Collegian’s newsroom.

As a sport management major in my sophomore year, I decided it would be a good idea to give myself as many options for when I graduated. Despite my hatred for writing, I thought that being a sports writer could be fun, so I came down to the Collegian, began writing men’s basketball Top 25 notebooks, and then added journalism as my second major.

Fast forward to now, and I’m writing the final of god-knows-how-many articles I’ve written for this paper. As much as I’ve complained about this place and the people I’ve worked with here, this place has without a doubt been one of the most important parts of my college career.

Beyond learning what it means to work for free and sharpening up just about every skill one might need in the real world, the biggest contribution the Collegian has given me is the bonds with people I have met here and the things they have taught me.

There are phrases such as “BOOM!” and “no one cares” now engrained into my daily vocabulary thanks to the like of Joe Meloni, Eli Rosenswaike, Ryan Fleming and Melissa Turtinen aka Title IX. Beyond the ridiculous things last year’s groups of editors taught me (or did not because of Joe’s inability to explain why he didn’t like things), these are the people who taught me to be a journalist. Without them, I would not feel comfortable calling myself one.

Then there is this year’s Collegian staff that has given me even more. There is of course the girlfriend, Sara Cody – whose column coincidentally happens to be next to mine, per her request – which I would not have today if I were not a part of the Collegian. Then there are the managerial skills I’ve acquired from being the head editor of what I consider the strongest sports section, from top to bottom, that I’ve been a part of.

Lastly, there are the intangibles that can’t be seen in the hundreds of clips I have written and the countless number of unpaid hours I have worked. I could try to explain it just as many past Collegian seniors have tried to do in their senior columns, but I won’t bother. It’s something that one needs to experience for themselves.

Words cannot describe the pride one gets from working at this paper and the sense of responsibility that one establishes from being in charge of an entire section of a paper day in and day out. And doing something with the cast we have here makes it that much more special.

I hope that all of those I have met at the Collegian – former, present and those who will be here in the future – keep in touch. What we’ve done over the past few years is something to be proud of, and the memories are ones I hope to relive with all of you in the future.

Jeff Larnard was the Collegian’s sports editor. He can be reached at [email protected].