"This place wasn’t just somewhere for me to learn and grow. Photo Desk brought me community and a true passion for photojournalism. I’ll take that with me for the rest of my life."
"Anywhere I go, I can count on running into a friend from the office. I have learned that The DTH is everywhere."
"But the thing that pulses through me is this deep want to accomplish everything. I want to work at The Athletic. I want to be the best sportswriter of all time. Who says I can't be?"
"I’ve been writing for The Daily Tar Heel since my my first year's fall semester. Four years later, I still find myself apologizing when I say I work at The DTH."
"That's the thing about The DTH — you can't control it, you don't even notice it — you just do it."
"But for me, looking at this newsroom that I’ve worked in for the last two years, these people are my royal court."
"No matter what, I couldn’t really escape sports. Not with a father who coached basketball. Not with a family that has three TV screens in our basement to watch as many games as possible simultaneously. And definitely not at a university where sports were everywhere I turned."
"My first print story is framed on my desk. I’ve read over it often, like when I was panicking about election coverage and needed to ground myself, when I was kicking myself for a bad day of reads or when I just needed a reminder of how far I’ve come."
"At some point this past year, I entered the door code, walked up the loud metal stairs and opened the door and walked into the brick office. I said my fair share of hellos and strolled to the back table. I took my seat, I opened my laptop and I knew I was exactly where I needed to be."
"As I’m preparing to publish my last few podcasts and say goodbye to the newsroom for the foreseeable future, I’m grateful for everything this newsroom has taught me and I'm excited to see where future editors take this desk."
"I thought art was just a hobby — a hobby I loved dearly, but a hobby nonetheless — nothing I could truly hope to pursue in the future."
"While I don’t necessarily encourage (somewhat) fraudulently joining The DTH like I did, I do encourage letting fate take the reins every so often. You really never know what might happen."
"I’m 21 years old, and I’ve had the privilege of writing headlines, editing stories, designing pages and more for my favorite publication. How many people are lucky enough to say that?"
"Herein lies the conclusion of my time at the DTH and my farewell column. As the last day of classes approaches, I can feel my time here slipping through my fingers."
"It’s going to be hard for me to let go, but I know that I’ll be leaving this newsroom and this school with something to show for myself and with an impact on others."
"Sooner or later, it’ll sink in that this might be among the most fulfilling things I’ll ever do and that it’s surely all downhill from here."
"It started with a mini bubble gum machine, a disco ball and a small green stegosaurus. They were the seeds of our trinket garden, and physical representations of our main goal: to make the newly-minted Lifestyle desk fun and eclectic."
"I owe so much to The Daily Tar Heel. It allowed me to establish myself professionally while immersing myself in my community in a way unlike any other."
"I know that I have created memories, safe spaces, and planted seeds for the people that come after me to thrive and make the DTH a better place.""
"While it’s finally time to finish out my years at the newsroom, I can’t seem to find a way to finish up this column. How to wrap up three years of bylines and dozens of bell dings that ring through the office after print is submitted."
