I don\u2019t cry often, and certainly not in front of other people.<\/p>\n
Okay, I definitely cried in middle school; if we\u2019re being honest, I probably cried more than I should have, even when I was in high school. I was told growing up that I was a sensitive guy, and I can live with that.<\/p>\n
But when I got to Miami University, I told myself that crying wasn\u2019t a productive use of time. It might calm me down or let me unload some weight, but it wouldn\u2019t solve the problems I had at the time.<\/p>\n
When I did cry \u2014 usually during the moments I lovingly call my \u201ctweak outs\u201d or mental spirals \u2014 I limited myself to either a bathroom or the confines of my apartment. I refused to shed a tear in front of an audience. I didn\u2019t want to draw attention to myself.<\/p>\n
I broke those rules when Photo Editor Elisa Rosenthal stood up on the desk during The Miami Student\u2019s 200th Anniversary Celebration to surprise me with a jersey for my record-high byline count.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve told this story before<\/a>, but my choice to come to Miami was completely random. My decision to stay at Miami was also out of my control \u2014 if I had turned in my paperwork one week ahead of time, I would have transferred to the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n I wrote six stories total for The Student in my first year, and honestly considered it more of an extracurricular. However, I hadn\u2019t quite found my \u201chome\u201d yet on campus. I didn\u2019t love my finance major and felt ostracized in my dorm hall, giving me more alone time than I would have preferred.<\/p>\n I picked up a journalism major going into my sophomore year and started writing more. A lot more. I had 128 bylines in my junior year alone, and that\u2019s when I realized I wanted to be a professional journalist more than anything.<\/p>\n Despite the admittedly excessive amount of writing I did, there remained a voice in the back of my head telling me that I\u2019m making a mistake. No matter how many games I covered, interviews I conducted or road trips I went on, I was never doing the best I could.<\/p>\n That voice led to some dark times for me. I won awards and received constant validation from people around me, but it didn\u2019t matter. I was never satisfied with myself, and eventually, I told myself there was no point in pursuing this dream anymore.<\/p>\n So, when Elisa stood up on that table, tears in her eyes, and told me how proud she was of me, of course my eyes welled up.<\/p>\n It became clear to me that even when I can\u2019t give myself grace or have faith in myself, I have a whole team of people in my corner. People that I consider family and who will shower me with support and love.<\/p>\n \n Enjoy what you’re reading? My career and life trajectory have been entirely altered because people chose to take a chance on me. Former Sports Editor Jack Schmelzinger took a chance on me when he promoted me to sports editor despite my limited experience and lack of confidence.<\/p>\n Former Editor-in-Chief Kasey Turman and, later, now Editor-in-Chief Olivia Patel and Managing Editor Anna Reier continued to take chances on me when I was scrambling to fill space every print, but they always told me they trusted me enough to get the job done.<\/p>\n Digital Media Editor Sarah Frosch took a chance on me when they taught me all about photography and let me do multimedia work for football and basketball.<\/p>\n Campus & Community Editor Taylor Stumbaugh, Opinion Editor Taylor Powers, Culture Editor Stella Powers, GreenHawks Editor Sarah Kennel and Sam Norton all took chances on me when they allowed a sports journalist to cover Senate Bill 1<\/a>, warbling birds<\/a> and the stand-up comedy club<\/a>.<\/p>\n The people on staff have become my closest friends, people I know I can count on and, I hope, people who know that they can count on me for anything at any time.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bittersweet feeling knowing that the group I\u2019ve seen as a family will be going their own ways pretty soon. At the same time, I\u2019m eternally grateful to have people I\u2019m close enough with to feel incredibly sad about leaving. I can\u2019t say enough about the impact The Miami Student has had on my college experience, career and personal life.<\/p>\n
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