I was an anxious kid. I avoided my high school newspaper out of fear that I wouldn’t be as good a writer as the other students. It even took me a year to begin working for The Ithacan at Ithaca College, where I began my undergraduate studies. But the anxieties that kept me from making the jump to writing and publishing my own work also brought me to an obsessive familiarity with film, TV, music and whatever other artform I could get my hands on. It was in those arts that I found peace, provocation and entire worlds I never thought could exist (still anxious if you were wondering, just more functionally so).

Years have passed since my high school days, and my days at Ithaca. Finding myself at the end of my time with the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, I’ve also found that it’s possible to publish work not only that I’m proud of, but also work that people will enjoy reading. Turns out if you put yourself out there, you might just get a good response. Go figure.

I’d credit the whole change to personal growth but that’s just one part of it. The fact is that the Collegian is home to a staff that has continually lifted me up through kindness, honesty and a standard of excellence I was eager to uphold. It’s been one of the greatest pleasures of my time at the University of Massachusetts to rise from staff writer to editor, first on the music beat and later the film and TV beat, where my heart has stayed for a couple decades now.

I’ve met friends here whose writing I can’t wait to see evolve even further. I’ve met folks here whose articles have blown me away in every way. I’ve even gotten the opportunity to edit the work of my colleagues, to engage with their writing process and find something together that was better than either of us could’ve done solo.

I have to thank Caitlin Reardon for believing in me enough to bring me up to the editorial staff, and my fellow assistant editors Shannon Moore, Samourra Rene, Laleh Panahi and Suzanne Bagia for helping to create an environment that not only takes the arts seriously, but fully appreciates the breadth of their impact. And if it weren’t for instruction from Raz Sibii, Brad Tuttle and Dr. Whipple, I would have never even gotten the basics of this work down.

I joke that journalism is 70 percent talking to people and 30 percent puns (my contribution to the ever-expanding canon of pithy journalism quotes), but the talking part is no joke. To a terminal introvert like me, that may have sounded like hell a few years ago. But with the Collegian it was always a pleasure, even when it wasn’t easy. This paper has been my gateway to a local community of fascinating people, and to an industry I can’t bring myself to leave behind any time soon. Writing for the Collegian is something I’ll always treasure.

Thomas Machacz was an Assistant Arts Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].