Dear Friends,
While this is the last issue of The Guilfordian this school year, this issue is much more significant for yours truly on a more personal level. With graduation looming closer as each day passes, I find that my days are full of more lasts than firsts.
For example, Friday was my last time at Bowling Club. Next week will be my last Hillel meeting and by the time you read this, my last classes will be only a few days away. With that in mind, this column will be my last ever for The Guilfordian.
As someone who has made a reputation over the last four years as always having something to say and opinions about everything, I find myself now in the precarious position of being left rather speechless.
Quite honestly, I have so much to say, but no idea on even how to begin. I suppose the strong bond I feel towards the newspaper is connected to my strong feelings towards the college itself. In the spring of 2000, Guilford College took a chance on an average high school student, and I would like to think that was one gamble that paid off not only for the school, but also for myself.
I feel the same way about being able to write for The Guilfordian. When I look back and read some of my earlier works, I am embarrassed because some of them are quite horrible. Despite all of that, I was given the chance to improve and keep writing, and I would like to believe that nobody regrets that decision.
To be honest, I never fully involved myself in the newspaper process. When I left high school, I had just finished being editor in chief for two years, and I made the very conscious decision that I did not want that kind of responsibility again. I did not want a lot of responsibility; I wanted autonomy over what I was writing about and no one could tell me otherwise. It was all or nothing, and I got just enough rope to hang myself with. I think that at this point my college career, I am a little short on breath, but that’s pretty good, I think.
A few weeks back, I talked about how the work we have done here at Guilford is taken within ourselves and is often not remembered on campus. Times change, new faces come in year after year and the chapter of school history you helped write is often unread.
But if I could fantasize for a moment, I think that I would like to be remembered as someone who was above all, honest. Maybe I could have written this better or corrected this, but I hope that every time students read my column, they could trust that those words were true. Have I made mistakes? Of course, but I have learned from them and strive never to repeat them.
I do not want this to ramble on forever, so I want to close my last column with this: For the past four years I have been honored that many people have chosen to read the words I have had published. Thank you to all of those who have believed in me and thought that I was worth taking a chance on.
These final sentences have filled my heart with both joy and sadness. I feel that I have no real message to leave you with and no worldly wisdom to impart on all of you. I leave you all with a simple goodbye and a final thank you.