After three years, 53 articles and countless memories in between, it is finally time to write my last article for The Carroll News.

I started my journey with TCN during my sophomore year, when I decided to try writing an article because I was a newly declared English major and wanted to expand my writing abilities. I thought TCN would be a great opportunity to grow as a writer and push myself out of my comfort zone.

My first article was about the Hollywood writers strike, as that was a current event at the time. Through writing this article, I found that I enjoyed the whole writing process that happened at TCN: developing an idea, writing the article, having the article edited by editors, revising and then finally seeing your work published. I decided to continue writing articles and this led to me being asked to be a campus event beat reporter.

For the rest of my sophomore year, I was a beat reporter. I was able to attend many different campus events— especially some that I normally wouldn’t have gone to. I enjoyed this role; however, I was still a step removed from the true spirit of TCN because I wasn’t able to go to the meetings. They conflicted with my schedule, so I got all of the story ideas from the campus section editor.

This changed during my junior year when Grace Sherban ’25, former editor-in-chief, asked me to be the opinion section editor. That year, I was finally able to attend meetings and had a new role to fill. Immediately, I found that I enjoyed news writing from the editorial side: working with writers on story ideas, editing the work that they submitted, revising together and publishing student voices.

I also found a love for being in the newsroom, and specially being there with all of the amazing people who make up TCN. Yes, I enjoyed the writing, reporting and editorial work, but I especially loved the community that I was now a part of.

During my senior year, I’ve had the ability to continue as the opinion section editor. This has meant continuing to be a part of the amazing community of The Carroll News. I’ve grown very close to my fellow editors, especially Anna Maxwell ’27, Brian Keim ’26 and formerly Grace Sherban. For me, TCN is so special because of the people who are in it. From the quote wall, to traveling to New Orleans for a conference, to attending lunches with Pete Williams with my fellow writers and editors, I have made so many memories that I will hold with me for the rest of my life.

When people have asked me these past two years if I liked The Carroll News, I would respond something along the lines of “Yes, overall I like it. Sometimes it can be a lot of work on top of regular school work, but the people keep me coming back.”

So while I may have joined originally to grow my writing skills, I have stayed because of the people and will remember them most. Thank you to everyone who has been in the newsroom and made this journey so memorable. I will miss you all, but I know that you will have a blast in the years to come. I can’t wait to see all the amazing things the paper continues to do in the future!