When I was in the fourth grade, I had asked my parents to sign me up for the after-school program that was all about creating a newspaper for Garrison Elementary School. I specifically remember working in the computer lab with a handful of other kids, where I typed up my movie review of “Hotel for Dogs” and my interview that I conducted with the gym teacher. During my senior year of high school, I decided to take a year-long journalism class that quickly became my favorite class during a somewhat tumultuous year for me, and it created excitement and passion inside of me that was unmatched compared to other things I was involved in.

When I got to college, I was searching for that same feeling that I had – and that was when I found The New Hampshire (TNH). I joined TNH during my second semester of freshman year. I never started out as a contributor or on staff, rather I took a chance on a position that I saw on Handshake called Web Editor on the editorial team. I was struggling with what I wanted to do with my life and unsure of where I belonged in my college career and little did I know, TNH was it. The Web Editor position was brand new and consisted solely of uploading the articles that the staff had written to the website.

There weren’t really any rules or guidelines – we were all just figuring it out as we went. While it had its challenges and the position has definitely evolved since then, it led to me finding more of who I am and where I belong, and I’m unbelievably grateful for that. To former Managing Editor Ian Lenahan and former Executive Editor Bret Belden – thank you for taking a chance on the first-year business major who had a secret love of journalism and didn’t know where to start.

I continued as Web Editor during the dreaded sophomore year: the 2019-2020 academic year. I have a vivid memory of sitting in the newsroom on that fateful night in March of 2020, the 11th to be exact. We all got the email that spring break and classes afterward would resume as planned, only to hear the next day that spring break would be two weeks, and eventually, that we would not be returning that semester. COVID-19 changed the trajectory of TNH and its staff in many ways – from learning how to operate remotely, to some of our biggest news stories reported that were picked up nationwide, and to TNH’s ultimate transition to going fully digital. I am so thankful that I got to have a hand in every moment and was able to create some invaluable memories.

When I was promoted to Content Editor my junior year, I was incredibly nervous and at times felt a bit like a fraud. I was terrified that because I was a business major and not a journalism major, I wouldn’t be taken seriously by our staff and that every decision I made would be questioned. My fellow “TNH Dream Team” members, Managing Editor Anna Kate Munsey and Executive Editor Josh Morrill, made sure that this was never the case and I can never thank them enough for that. To Ann and Josh, thank you for always being my partners in crime and always having my back. There is no way I could have made it through the last two years without you. You both believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.

Lastly, thank you to the rest of the editorial staff for always stepping up to the plate – superstar News Editors Is Curtis and Rhi Watkins, legendary Sports Editors Cam Beall and Brackett Lyons, and our amazing team of staff writers. To the future of TNH, incoming Executive Editor Max Scheinblum and whoever takes my place, I know that you are going to take TNH to new heights and I have so much faith in you. If you are someone who is hesitant to get involved with TNH, regardless of your major, I can promise you that you will be welcomed with open arms and unlimited support – all you have to do is give yourself permission to get started.