It is finally ending. Four years of learning, growing and crying (happy and sad tears) are finally coming to an end. It’s very surreal to think that four years ago, an intimidated, somewhat lost freshman version of me stepped onto West Texas A&M University’s campus ready to make the world my oyster. Now, within a few weeks, my name will be called and I’ll walk across the stage along with all of the other fellow graduates.

Firstly, I am thankful for the education that I received as a Buff. The media communication department opened the door for me and allowed me to gain valuable, hands-on experience while doing what I loved. Special thanks to the amazing professors, including Dr. Garcia and Dr. McFarland for always helping me along the way.

To add, working for The Prairie News has without a doubt been one of the most meaningful and rewarding experiences. Getting to learn the skills I need to succeed and telling other people’s stories is something I truly valued. I’m also very thankful for the friends I’ve made while working at The Prairie News, without their help, friendship and encouragement I can guarantee I wouldn’t have made it this far (Shout out to Savannah, Jeff, Hannah, Emily, Ceasar, Penny and many others.)

In college, you tend to meet a ton of new people. During my time on campus I managed to meet some pretty amazing people that I made great memories with. Whether it was spontaneous or planned, I will never forget my college experience with my dear friends. Of course, times were much simpler pre-COVID. However, I feel blessed to have shared these times with people that I love.

While graduating is a big accomplishment and looking back on all of the good times can be easy, it wasn’t easy getting to this point. Over the course of these four years I’ve experienced loss, failure and stress. There were certainly times where motivation wasn’t there and I was discouraged. However, my family has undoubtedly served as some of my biggest motivators. I would most definitely not have made it without the love and support of my parents. Everything I do is for them and while I’m proud of graduating, I am most proud of being their daughter.

My time here at WTAMU is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I’m truly so thankful for the things I have learned and the people I have met. While coming to the end of this chapter is bittersweet, I am both anxious and ambitious going into the future. I feel that it is my time to use what I have learned in the real world (yikes). So with that I say, “On, on Buffaloes.”