During my tenure at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian I have had the opportunity to work with many great people who do just an incredible amount of work putting this paper out on a daily basis. As weird as it sounds and despite my tenure of nearly three years, this will be my first and only article I will ever write for this publication. However, I have had hundreds of photos published in this daily paper. Through the Collegian I have had so many opportunities to cover incredible events.

When I was a freshman on this campus I was lost in the infinite possibilities of what you can become on this campus. In my sophomore year I finally found a home in the dingy basement of the Campus Center. The more I got involved in the Collegian the more I began to enjoy the people and the work.

When I joined I had no expectations for what would be ahead. I thought I would get to shoot some sports, but would struggle to shoot the top sports at the University of Massachusetts. However, this was not the case; I was thrown into the fire and took on a hockey game versus University of New Hampshire as my first assignment. I was shown an opportunity and I feel as though I seized it to the best of my ability. I have been the lead sports photographer for two of my three years here. I got my first taste of a Collegian road trip in December 2009, my first semester with the paper, when I traveled to UMass Lowell to watch a battle of top 10 Hockey teams.

After the first trip to Lowell as a sophomore, I caught the bug to travel to as many games and events as I could convince the Collegian – or my fellow contributors – to go to. In my travels I have had the pleasure of going to some of the most storied arenas in the world. I have seen football and lacrosse at Gillette Stadium. I’ve gone to basketball at Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden. I have covered hockey at Fenway Park, though never a baseball game. My travels have also taken me to Atlantic City, N.J., for the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament, as well as to the rival campuses of Boston College and Holy Cross for football and Boston College again for men’s basketball.

I was afforded the great opportunity to see the first ever Collegiate football game at Gillette Stadium and the final installment in the rivalry between the Wildcats and the Minutemen, if only as Colonial Athletic Association foes. I also witnessed one of the final men’s basketball contests between Temple and UMass as A-10 foes. I was also in attendance along the sideline for the final Division IAA football contest to be held at McGuirk Stadium.

At Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City I was fortunate enough to see the Minutemen upset a ranked Temple team and take St. Bonaventure to the final minutes before being defeated. At Madison Square Garden I watched as a road-tested Minutemen team was poised to play a tough Stanford Cardinals, but the trip to the finals was not in the cards for the Minutemen. With the recent Boston College withdrawal from the rivalry in basketball, I saw the Minutemen split the two games against the Eagles; one at Conte Fourm, a 36-point UMass win and a five point loss at the Boston Garden.

In addition to sports I have covered many arts events at the Mullins Center and in Northampton, each with their own adventure. This includes this year’s Spring Concert and Back to Stool, which appears to be the last Barstool Sports event to be held in Amherst. I have covered many news events and lectures, including a speech by Massachusetts Gov.Deval Patrick. The Collegian also provided a news road trip to Washington, D.C., for the Stephen Colbert and John Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

I cannot help but be thankful for all of the hard work from all of my co-workers that put the paper on newsstands day in and day out. When I first started I had no idea of the hours that went into the paper every night. Then I joined the production staff and had many 3 or 4 a.m. nights. With the toll it takes on the entire staff, it is incredible that we never miss a night.

Even though my tenure here is coming to an end, I do not think I will ever forget the events I have covered or the people who came with me to view these events. The thousands of photos I have taken and the hundreds of hours I have spent processing them has been stressful at times but I cannot imagine my UMass career without it.

Jeff Bernstein was the Photo Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].