I always wondered what I would say in my goodbye column. After all, The Sunflower gave me many stories to tell — covering a pandemic as a freshman reporter, becoming editor-in-chief as a sophomore, serving as editor-in-chief for two years, the many inside jokes late-night productions have blessed us with, and so much more.

My three and a half years at The Sunflower felt like an eternity when I was in it. But now that I’m graduating, I have no sense of time. Everything that happened while I was in the newsroom — both rooms 225 and 019 — seems to have meshed into a singular week.

So instead of sharing all my stories and memories about the wonderful times The Sunflower has given me, I’ll just send a little message to the present and future Sunflowers. So sit back and enjoy — and just act like this is me talking during a Friday morning meeting. Because you all know I talk too much.

Take pride in the work you do. It’s often easy to beat yourself up over what you should be doing instead of praising yourself for what you are doing. Take a moment and pat yourself on the back. It’ll make the hard days easier.

Never be embarrassed about not knowing something. Ask questions that you feel are dumb. There’s nothing wrong in not knowing — only in not doing anything about it.

Enjoy the late-night production nights. I know they can be annoying, but in 10 years when you’re looking back at college, those late nights are going to be what made it.

Oh, and remember to bring donuts to Friday morning meetings. More people will show up that way. (Jaycie has been way better at this than I was. Kudos to you.)

I’ll end with some thank yous, and then you’ll hear the last from me – at least in a Sunflower article. I’m sure I’ll pop up in your Facebook messenger notifications here and there.

To Amy DeVault — the best adviser we could ever wish for. Thank you for always having your door open for me to ask for help, rant when I was stressed, or simply just when I wanted to chat. I’m sure I’ll still walk in unannounced even after I graduate. (And now I can finally leave a message on your board!)

To Kylie Cameron — who hired me as a freshman reporter. Thank you for taking me under your wing and helping me every step of the way. I’m so happy to consider you one of my closest friends.

To Morgan Anderson, Sean Marty and Julia Nightengale — my oldest Sunflower friends. We had some crazy times in the pre-renovated newsroom, and I’ll always cherish those moments the most.

To everyone else I’ve crossed paths with the last three and a half years — it’s been an honor working alongside you. Thank you for shaping my college career.

And with all that, thank you, Sunflower readers, for trusting me to tell your stories. Keep reading The Sunflower, and as always, support student journalism.