We are all products of the people who pour into us. Whether they are affecting us negatively or positively, they build us into the people we become.
For this reflection, I could list out all the people who have poured into me like the middle school teacher who told me college wasn’t in the cards for me, or my mom who made sure, despite the learning challenges I faced growing up, that I didn’t fall behind. However, there are too many people to list, so when I inevitably start listing people it’ll be Crimson people.
The Crimson and I are extremely similar in this sense. We are both products of all the people that have positively or negatively affected us. I can only hope and pray that I have positively impacted this paper as much as it has impacted me.
Being a piece of the Crimson is a really strange experience because if you let it, it will make you a completely different but better person.
Allowing people to read my writing has always been a vulnerable experience for me, whether it was my first article I wrote sophomore year about Samford in the NFL (which was awful) or the Samford Solutions articles that I have a lot of fun with, which people seemingly enjoy.
Regardless, writing for the Crimson has now been a part of my identity for three years. Also, it is the identity of mine that receives the most positive and negative compliments and criticisms.
Working here for the last three years will be my favorite job that I have ever had. Every editor I’ve had has taught me so much. When my former Editor-in-Chief Harper Harwell told me to “take care of her baby,” (this newspaper), I took that as her last command, and I have poured everything I could into this paper.
And though I try, I still believe that this paper has done way more for me than me for it. It has taken me to St. Louis, Starkville and New York. It has given me awards, experience and portfolio pieces. It has helped me get to know Dr. Heath better, who I particularly want to thank for letting me pour into this job and always giving me great advice. It has given me friends and mentors that I will forever cherish like Mackenzee Simms, Harper Harwell and Will Mason.
These friends and mentors uniquely understand that life never waits for The Crimson. Wearing the Editor-in-Chief hat is an around the clock job where you’ll find yourself facing difficult personal challenges at the exact same time the president of the university wants to talk to you about an article that he’s not entirely fond of.
To the friends and leadership staff who have supported and poured into me — specifically, Sydney Pulliam, Lola Casey, Kate Seaver, Kaylee Bhasin and Meg Robinson — I will forever miss the extra effort we put into this job.
We’ve all become friends through the challenges we’ve faced in this job, and we’ve grown to support each other in the endeavors we face when we aren’t clocked in. (I just realized I haven’t been clocked in the entire time I wrote this, nothing’s new).
To the staff that I have hopefully impacted positively, thank you so much for indulging me in the budget meeting activities I have put you all through. I want you all to know that my two favorite parts of every week are getting to read what you guys wrote (because you guys are truly amazing) and seeing you guys on Mondays at 8 (because you all brighten my spirit). Keep up the extra effort and keep pouring into whatever you do because you have no idea the incredible impact you’ve had on me and on other people.
Now I know this is starting to get a little long, so I apologize for Sydney who has to edit this, but there is one more thing I need to address which is next year’s Editor-in-Chief.
Sydney, I believe in you. I will be your biggest fan. This job is hard, and a lot of the time it doesn’t feel like it’s rewarding, but you’ll find, outside of your understanding, it’s always rewarding. I am extremely proud of you already, and I know you are going to do a better job than I did… Take care of my baby for me.
Editor-in-Chief
