Covering University of Massachusetts athletics for the past three years, I’ve grown quite familiar with the annual Senior Day traditions that each program puts on at the end of each respective season.

It’s become a standard procedure – maybe even a bit cliché – but nonetheless, it ends with deep reflection from athletes and memories that seniors will never forget.

And now, as I publish what will be my final article for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and prepare for my graduation from UMass, I realize that this is somewhat of my own Senior Day – and I’m fortunate to celebrate it alongside some of the most talented and friendliest people I’ve had the pleasure to get to know and work with.

Joining the Collegian one week into my freshman year at UMass in 2013 was undoubtedly the greatest decision I’ve made while in college. Many of my fondest memories have happened in our old, worn-down yet loveable newsroom.

It’s where I spent the last two Super Bowls laying out pages and watching the game on a miniature 1980s-style TV – and where I was lucky enough to witness former Editor-in-Chief Nick Canelas seamlessly transition from an angry, expletive-filled rant to jumps of joy in mere seconds following Malcolm Butler’s interception to clinch a New England Patriots victory two years ago (go Jets). It’s where I spent multiple late nights well past our normal deadline of 1:30 a.m. to finish piecing together special issues that I’d look upon with pride the following day. It’s where I became “Tony” in a blink of an eye my freshman year around the newsroom.

From a relatively short drive to hectic Brooklyn to a 10-hour journey to laidback Bowling Green, Ohio, the Collegian not only provided me the chance to refine my journalistic craft but more importantly build lasting connections and friendships, which has truly been irreplaceable.

I owe a lot of who I am as a person to the Collegian. I came in as a timid freshman hesitant to take stories at my first sports staff meeting, but now I leave as the publication’s former managing editor that oversaw the entire newsroom and print production.

This leadership role was something I never envisioned taking on back when I was that freshman quietly sitting on the newsroom couches. But through this experience, it allowed me to develop a stronger voice in the newsroom and have an influence in an environment that I loved.

These three years have been an unexpected journey, but I know I’m not alone when it comes to this special impact that the Collegian has had on writers and editors alike.

The Collegian serves as a classroom outside of a classroom. There’s not many places like it that gives college students quite the same real-life experiences that comes with covering breaking news and providing daily content. Like many things in life, you get out of it what you put into it; and we “Collegianites” have happily chosen to commit countless hours in the newsroom and out in the field.

It’s hard for me to fully encapsulate what the Collegian has given me or thank all those from its past and present for all their help and support in just 600 words.

It’s even more difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that this is my last byline that I’ll ever see in this paper that I’ve considered a second home for the past six semesters.

But at the same time, I’m excited for the next stage in both my life and the Collegian. Every day I continue to be impressed with the content we put out, and I have no doubt that the Collegian is well-equipped to continue to improve in all facets next year and beyond.

As for myself, while my future remains unplanned and uncertain, I’m confident that the skills picked up from my three years at the Collegian will translate to success down the road.

Sure, there’s some uncertainty – maybe even a little bit of nervousness – entering this post-graduation phase, but just as the Collegian helped shape me into the journalist and person I am today, it will continue to help me grow moving forward. That I am sure of.

And for this, I say thank you.

Anthony Chiusano was the Collegian’s managing editor and can be reached at [email protected].