The great T.I. once said, "It's amazing, so amazing, baby, baby."
I can think of no better words to describe my time at The Plainsman than those.
During the last three semesters here, I have managed to build meaningful relationships in and out of the office while greatly improving my photojournalism skills.
Anyone who remembers my first published photo, which is hopefully just me, knows I have come a long way since I began.
For that, I have my co-workers to thank, who critiqued and challenged me every week.
Although I still have a lot to learn, I hope my commitment to the paper has shown through in my work.
More importantly, I hope that, through all my sarcasm, my Plainsman friends know how much I care for them and how much I will miss them when I have to go into the world and be a real person.
My college experience would have been entirely different without the friendships I made in our beloved, windowless, coffee-stained office.
I doubt I will ever know a more open or honest group of people. I mean, really - some of the things we've shared with each other are ridic.
Never again will I have the opportunity to learn and work with so many journalists my age who have the same goals.
Working here was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I cannot begin to name all the things I will miss about The Plainsman.
OK, fine...
I will miss Burger Nights and Pasta Mondays.
I will miss Jill's random hugs that always happen to come on the days you need them.
I will miss Liz's cheesy 90s playlists that always happen to come, well, pretty much every day.
I will miss Rod's constant critiques and visions, which (it hurts me a little to say this) have made me a much better photographer.
I will miss life shenanigans with Crystal, although I am sure those will continue.
I will miss Miranda's sass, Clever's inability to breathe properly when she's on a rant and that one time we got to e-board at the Q.
Although I would love to hang around The Plainsman office forever, I'm happy this is my last semester. It was by far the best.
One time in New York City, Kenny Rogers said to me, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."
He was totes right.
It's my time to fold 'em, and however sad it may be, it is also awesome to leave knowing I did my best and had way too much fun in the process.
I will surely carry the memories and lessons learned here with me for the rest of my life.
To next year's staff--make my face fall off.
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