It’s the final column of the year, and I’m not going to do what y’all think I’m going to, which is flip out. Instead, I will pour my heart out while tears stream down my face as I remember my year as the editor of the best section.
This year was not solely about lessons and friendships, which I immensely gained in both categories. It is more about memories that will guide me through a career I was lucky to find early in life.
The biggest lesson: Pick your battles wisely. I learned quickly that I couldn’t get everything that I wanted, whether I was right or wrong. I had to let certain smaller issues go in order to get my way on the bigger ones. That was a challenge because I’m not used to giving in when I don’t think it is right, but I know now that that lesson will probably be more valuable to me than all of my paychecks combined throughout this year.
(I earned about three bucks an hour on average, so that is saying a lot.)
I also made several invaluable friendships that I hope will remain intact for years to come, despite the certainty that we will all end up spread across the country in the coming years.
Three of the four full-time members of the sports desk will return next year as soon-to-be graduate Scott J. Adams heads southwest to work in Coos Bay. Scott is like the kid at fat camp who snuck all of the chocolate into the cabin. His sports knowledge is astounding and his dry jokes will be missed almost as much as his shotput-like three-pointers that rained down every time we hit the court.
Besides myself, the two remaining members are this year’s inchmaster and the senior sports reporter, who I will be switching roles with next year, even though he is a former (and I argue current) Beaver fan, so that I can focus more on the writing aspect of journalism.
No matter what happens down the road, I was able to accomplish a goal I never dreamed I would: cover the team I grew up watching. For years prior to having a spot in the press box, I had a seat in the stands. I routinely bumped elbows with some of the West Coast’s most intelligent (and not so intelligent, as proved by much of last year’s student section) sports fans before I scored a prime spot and was allowed on the field/court.
I lost a girlfriend, countless hours of sleep and some hair among other things (I’m not getting into my school woes) because of this job, but I couldn’t wish for a different experience if I could do it all over. OK, maybe I’d spend a little more time with the girlfriend, but nonetheless I experienced what very few are able to, and the games, interviews and storylines that I came across are forever established in my mind.
If today was my last day alive, is there anything that I’d regret? Sure, maybe a few mistimed jokes, but that is it. I have no complaints and I hope that the loyal readers of the best section can say the same. If not, continue to tune in because no matter what title I wear, I’ll always have something to say and you’ll continue to have the right to throw a fit like the true tree-hugging, protest-about-anything-because-my-life-has-no-meaning students many of you are.