Working for the JTAC wasn’t planned for me. I was scrolling through Handshake my junior year and happened to see a job posting for writers. I thought it couldn’t hurt to try, so I put in an application. Then, last September, I suddenly became a contributor for this student-led paper and fell in love with it; the staff, the writing, the stories out there. I didn’t realize how much work goes into one edition of JTAC until I was on the “other side.” Then in December, my event planning and office assistant position fell into my lap and I’ve been the smiling front-office face of the Student Publications office all semester. Planning distribution events has simultaneously been the most fun and stressful job of my college career. However, this group of people, student and full-time staff alike, are all phenomenal. Everyone cares about the publications so much and so much hard work goes into everything published, it’s hard not to like everyone involved.

Tarleton State University has been my home since before I was born, before my parents were even thought of. This family legacy started in 1956 when a great uncle first attended classes, back when our mascot was still the Plowboys. My family has continued attending here since with a grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, dad, mom, me and next year a sister. Tarleton has an aura of closeness and family; it feels like a second home.

I’ve been a part of so many things at Tarleton that I’ll miss. JTAC, the Student Publications office, my Communication Studies friends, my Mu Phi Epsilon family, the friends I’ve made in choir and classes and so many other events throughout the years that led me to new people and new things. It’s hard to say goodbye to all of this, but it’s so easy to get excited for this new life ahead of me.

If I had one piece of advice I could give students, it would be that it’s okay to not know what you want to do or who you want to be. I changed my major three different times in my first two years before I found where I fit in best and excelled. Those first two years trying to find a niche were long and stressful, but overall very worth it. I’ve had the best time of my life here, a time of independence and happiness, good friends and good times.

I would also tell students to give anything a try at least once. Don’t let shyness, uncertainty, or anything else stand in the way of you finding where you want to be. As Andy Bernard once said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.”

So thank you, Tarleton. Thanks for the memories you’ve left me, the friends you’ve helped me find and the successful future you’ve helped me pave the way to. I’ll truly miss this small town full of family and traditions, and I will never forget my home away from home.