The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

A fond farewell: Thanks for an amazing four years

I remember the night I came home after my first day at college.

I was on the verge of tears as I explained my day to my parents. I felt so terrified and lost and alone.

After a few weeks, I became accustomed to having minimal interaction with my classmates, and I looked forward to working off-campus every day.

I put up with feeling disconnected from my college until Spring Semester of my freshman year-when I simultaneously dropped off an application to The Chronicle and picked up information about running for student government. I figured whoever talked to me first would get me.

Of course, the politicians pounced.

After losing in the final election by three votes, and never hearing from Chronicle editors, I thought my chance at getting involved was over.

But then came the voice on the phone two days after elections, apologizing for not getting back to me earlier.

I interviewed, took the job no one wanted-pulling wire-and I’m still doing it four years later, no matter how hard I’ve tried to pass it off to someone else.

Now, as I sit here writing this four years later, I know that I’m going to pull wire at The Chronicle for the last time.

While I could never dupe anyone into that job, I’m grateful for a thousand other experiences I’ve had here. The one thing that I’ll never be able to thank Chronicle staffers enough-or condemn them enough-for, is turning me into the person I am now.

When I first started here, I was the shy, quiet girl in the corner who was terrified to talk to Union Director Whit Hollis about why he planned to close the Union art gallery-an issue many Chronicle editors thought was a terrible move.

I remember walking into his office, sitting down, and being immediately drawn to his Southern charm and omnipresent laughter, but I was still shaking as I took notes.

Now, we hug when we see each other. He still teases me about how scared I was the first time he met me because now I’ve turned into the loudmouth, in-your-face woman in the center of the room.

I don’t think I would have shed my shell and stepped up if I wouldn’t have had guidance from people like professor Jim Fisher and Matt Canham, my first editor in chief. They are two people I have come to depend on at my weakest moments, and they have never failed me, even when I’ve called up in a panic from 1,000 miles away.

I have seen the world while working at The Chronicle-I’ve toured through India, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, Bulgaria and Israel-and it’s only helped me understand my world more as a journalist. I’ve been blessed by working with people at The Chronicle who truly are diverse in all aspects. I wish the U in its entirety could generate the respectful, intelligent conversations I’ve been so lucky to engage in about people’s various beliefs and backgrounds.

I can never thank The Chronicle’s staffers enough for challenging me in ways I never thought possible and dealing with my temper tantrums that have made the glass walls in the office shake with my rage.

I couldn’t have asked for a more understanding, intelligent and thoughtful group of people to work with. They have turned my college experience from one of solitude to one where, as I shut my office door for the last time, I know that I’m going to be on the verge of tears for an entirely different reason.

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