I remember coming to Auburn when I was in high school, meeting friends that had moved here from my hometown of Guntersville, Ala. and driving around in the middle of the night, not recognizing the buildings and the streets that I now call home.
Those were good times, when Auburn was the mysterious, glorious, shining city upon a hill where students escaped their parents and surely did nothing but party till sunrise and have adventures reminiscent of "Animal House" and cause all kinds of free-hearted mischief.
In those days, I wanted to come to Auburn because it was the land of dreams, where anything was possible. I stayed because of what Auburn really is: a place of tradition and honor, family and friends, academia and sport, love and pride, a place where you can make yourself anew, but still connected to the likes of great Auburn men and women that have come before.
And this, the last piece I'll write for The Plainsman, comes with a twinge of pain and a glimpse of hope.
The Plainsman has been what I wanted college to be on those scandalous Saturday nights after a three-hour drive where I first experienced the keg stand.
The Plainsman has given me my sense of purpose, my sense of belonging and has shown me the inside of Auburn that most people never get to see.
I've interviewed SGA presidents, many clubs and organizations; ridden in the front seat of the "Drunk Bus," interviewing partygoers until the wee hours of the morning, and I've heard so many dark rumors from random unnamed sources that I may or may not know some serious secrets.
Because of The Plainsman, I have pushed myself, and have found my most crippling character flaws.
And now, as I sit in the office, trying to formulate the last of my Plainsman-published words, I realize the value of being involved with this publication: the friends, the experiences, the long nights, the early mornings all have served to make me a better journalist, a better person and hopefully, an Auburn man.
I will forever be grateful to The Plainsman and the people that have worked its pages during the last year in helping to shape my life, my career and my worldview for the better.
So thank you Auburn University, thank you Auburn Plainsman, thank you Liz, Chelsea, Rod, Eric and Clever; thank you Chris Walker; thank you students, faculty and friends.
I will part ways with a smile on my face and an orange T-shirt on my back, ready to take down the Harvey Updykes of this world with my pen and camera.
Farewell Auburn, and may we meet again on sunny fall afternoons, cooking barbecue and remembering the times we've had watching Cam Newton catch a touchdown pass, running to Toomer's Corner after a close game, toilet paper in hand and admiring all that is orange and blue, all that is the loveliest village on the plains.
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