When I think back to what my college experience has been, I see a myriad of decisions I had to make floating in front of me, and a newfound awareness of the impact they would have on my life.

I never planned on attending the University of Massachusetts, but felt that I had to go to the same school as my sister after COVID squashed my plans of moving to Montreal. I came to campus sophomore year feeling completely powerless, but I was immediately confronted with a million choices I had to make: what to major in, how I was going to make friends, what groups I should join, which jobs to apply to. I doubted everything I did until I tried writing for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian; that was where I finally found myself and my place.

Joining the paper wasn’t just one decision I made — it was a series of choices that I had to consciously keep choosing throughout my entire first semester here. Never having done journalism before, I chose to come back every week, chose to take on hard stories, chose to throw myself back into a place where I, as a person of color and a non-journalism major, didn’t feel like I belonged.

I’m grateful now that I did it. Every day I feel grateful that I kept doing that extra work when I started, because I fell in love with newswriting and the small sense of purpose I felt in covering the going-ons around campus.

I owe a lot of my growth as a person and writer to my first editors, Sophie Gardner, who was always encouraging, and Alex Genovese, who taught me how to write honestly. You’ve had more of an impact on me than you’ll ever know.

All the friends I have made here, I’ll love you guys forever. Lucas, dear, what began as one-sided beef as I vied to be Alex’s favorite grew into you being a true bestie to me these past couple of years. Thank you for being you — for me and the rest of the Collegian.

And Mahi, from the first words you spoke to me, I knew you’d become a great part of my life. As an engineer, a journalist and especially a friend, I admire you to the ends of the Earth. Thank you for making college so special.

UMass so far has been the light of my life. When I think back to what my college experience has been, I remember the early morning sun casting shadows on the brutalist windows of Campus Center. I remember the way light shimmers off the surface of the campus pond. I remember a rainbow of LEDs lighting up the windows of Southwest dorms, and the blue light reflecting off my friends’ faces as we sat next to Wasabi having lunch.

Kami Nguyen was the Head Translations Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].