My first years of college were incredibly nonlinear. 

I transferred to Elizabethtown College mid-way through my first year, and for that entire first semester I was an environmental science major. By the beginning of my sophomore year, I had switched to international business, which meant a lot of change in a short amount of time. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I found The Etownian, even though I never planned on joining at all. 

I actually started as a columnist to cover for another writer who was studying abroad at the time, and it was only supposed to be temporary. I ended up liking it much more than I expected, so when she returned, I decided that I wanted to stay on and just picked up a different column to keep writing. 

The Business Buzz column was always my favorite because, as a business major, I enjoyed delving deeper into topics I had only gotten glimpses of in class. As a marketing concentration, anything related to marketing news quickly became my go-to, since it felt like I was taking what I was learning and actually doing something with it. 

I also spent time writing the Today’s Tech column, which pushed me outside of my comfort zone. That challenge is part of what made it feel so worthwhile. One of my favorite pieces came from that column: my 2025 April Fools article about a fake AI model the Amish were supposedly going to use. 

When it was my turn to study abroad, I did not want to stop writing for The Etownian or give up my spot, so I decided to continue from a different time zone. That came with its own challenges, since deadlines felt different, communication required more effort and everything took more planning, but it mattered to me to stay connected, and writing gave me that consistency. The 2025 April Fools article was written entirely from Italy, which makes it even more memorable for me. 

I was later asked to step into the role of News Editor, which was a level of commitment far beyond anything I had done before. I went from being responsible for one column each issue to helping run the entire section, which meant pitching stories, writing general news articles and filling gaps when coverage was needed. 

There was one issue when everything seemed to hit at once, and I ended up writing four full articles while Assistant News Editor, Aaron Girvan, covered the other three, which felt a little insane at the time. Looking back, it is something I am really proud of because we managed to pull it off and keep everything running smoothly. 

The experience was definitely stressful sometimes, especially when deadlines stacked up or things did not go as planned, but it was also incredibly rewarding. The role pushed me more than I would have ever expected and taught me how to manage pressure, stay flexible and follow through even when things felt overwhelming.

I am extremely grateful to the writers who kept coming back each week and consistently put their best effort into their columns, because that kind of reliability made the section what it was. Watching Aaron grow from a first-year writer into Assistant News Editor during my time here was also incredibly rewarding, and I am excited to see what he does as News Editor now that I have stepped down because I know the news section is in good hands. 

One thing I have kept throughout my time with The Etownian is a physical copy of every issue that includes my work, which may seem small but means a lot to me because it is something I can look back on and see everything that went into each issue. 

The Etownian has been one of the only constants for me since my sophomore year, and through everything else that changed, it remained something I could rely on, which is why I am incredibly grateful for it. 

Farewell, Etownian! I can’t wait to see you thrive for years to come.