Time is something that I’m always worrying about. I always want more; more time to spend with friends; more time to sleep in; more time to be able to learn more in classes; more time to be at UNH, and mostly, more time to finish an article. I feel that I can always do better if I just had more time.

But, to quote Dazed and Confused, “I want to look back and say that I did I the best I could while I was stuck in this place. Had as much fun as I could while I was stuck in this place. Played as hard as I could while I was stuck in this place…” I won’t include the rest but all you need to know is: I need to do the best I can with the time I’m given.

Freshman year I was an introverted kid. I didn’t have a clue what to major in either. I liked writing, reading and stories of all kinds. So I decided to major in biology starting my sophomore year, fall semester. How idiotic right? I liked nature, animals, environmentalism and my biology classes in high school. Also I thought ‘it won’t be so hard.’ But I was so wrong. I could not keep up with anything in those awful courses that every COLSA freshman takes. So after that semester I was at a loss.

But I had also taken an intro communication course.

That communication course (which ended up saving my GPA from being completely awful) gave me a realization. The discussions didn’t put me to sleep and I even engaged in class. I didn’t like just discussing media, but creating it was appealing to me. I enjoyed it. So I decided to pursue it.

Hence, I became an English/journalism major at the beginning of my junior year.

I went to my first TNH meeting that semester and I was completely nervous about writing an article although, I was a bit eager. I saw the staff was joking the whole time during the meeting. It felt welcoming. I went up to the executive editor explaining this was my first article ever and he even gave me an extension on the deadline. But I was still wicked nervous.

The article was about a professor at UNH who rode his bike to work everyday, even in the winter. So I set up an interview, walked into his office and got ready to talk. I started out simple and asked why he rode his bike to work everyday and it took off from there. It flowed just like a normal conversation. I took lots of messy notes, but it felt like a good messy.

You know that feeling of a switch in your head going off for the first time? That’s what I felt and it’s stayed on since.

So I continued to contribute to TNH. When I took my first news writing class I went to almost every meeting. Mostly because I couldn’t come up with story ideas but also to get a chance to publish stories and work in an environment with a close resemblance to a real-world job.

Coming back to time, I’ve reflected back on my time as a Staff Writer during my senior year and I wish I had started much sooner, but felt I did the best I could with my time.

I’ve learned a lot. I won’t lie either, the stories I’ve written have all been hard work and stressful when writing stories on deadline, wondering if your article wrote would get complaints, or even trying to come up with quotes to have a good story. But it’s made me a better writer to remember how to get through those problems after experiencing them. TNH also gave me the ability to talk to people. After the hundredth interview you conduct, questions just come naturally and your curiosity grows.

I’m grateful for my time and to have been a part of this awesome team of students that produces vibrant, interesting, and informative stories. I looked forward to the compliments that my friends, editors and others would give to me about my stories. I loved seeing them in the paper and picking up a copy. I’d also be lying if I said it didn’t give my ego a boost. I looked forward to those Monday meetings.

However, I’m definitely not the introvert I was back in my freshman year and I thank TNH for helping me achieve that.