Four years ago, just a week after my first classes began as a freshman at MSU, I walked into The Reflector office for the first time. Today, I’m walking out of this place with a box full of personal items and a mind full of memories, indispensable professional knowledge and a deeper perspective on life and society. And to think, I’m just getting started.This is my last edition as a member of The Reflector staff. For the past two years I have had the honor of serving as editor-in-chief, and before that one year as entertainment editor and another as news reporter. I have produced some of my best work here, and conducted interviews with hundreds of people, several of which had a profound influence on me. I have made it my mission to be a watchdog for students and the broader MSU community, and while it was never easy, it’s nonetheless tough to say goodbye.
Even tougher, two weeks from now as I walk across the stage at Humphrey Coliseum like thousands upon thousands before me, I will look out to the sea of maroon and black robes, and I’ll sigh with both reluctance and relief. If the world were perfect, I’d never have to leave MSU. Alas, I must.
I’ve seen a lot of change on campus in the last four years. The demise of Malfunction Junction, the paving of parking lots by McComas Hall and the delay of the new Union. And the delay of the new Union. And of course, the delay of the new Union. I’ve seen Michael Venyah offend people from the pedestal of the “free speech zone” to the middle of the Drill Field after the university properly recognized that most of the campus is a free speech zone. I’ve witnessed the departure of two presidents, Charles Lee and Robert H. “Doc” Foglesong, two very different leaders who made very different impacts on the university.
I experienced, along with the staff, both necessary and unnecessary challenges presented to The Reflector. I took pride in seeing our staffs receive the honors of being named the best college newspaper in the state and in the South. I also feel that we stood up and spoke out on issues when no one else would. Beside the Faculty Senate, that is.
My experience at The Reflector has afforded me opportunities to do internships as far away as Seattle, Wash., and as close to home as the post-Katrina Gulf Coast. But of all the things I have experienced, what will stick with me the most is the people I’ve met.
I will never forget walking through the landscape architecture building for the first time with Pete Melby and Tom Cathcart, and getting excited about the advancements and reputation this campus could have if only the university adopted what these two men are doing. I’ll take with me the experience of sitting with Sylvester Croom in his office as the sun came up, talking about his incredible life and his oftentimes difficult past, and thinking about how much he reminded me of my own father. Indeed he is someone I look up to as person, prestige aside.
I’ll also remember my professors. First there is Frances McDavid, journalism instructor and adviser to The Reflector. Undoubtedly one of the best journalists this community has ever seen, she is one of MSU’s greatest gems. Her ethical knowledge and unfettered support have helped me get through some of mine and the newspaper’s hardest times, and her lessons in the classroom have provided some of the most important guidelines a journalist should follow.
I learned the true power of the First Amendment from Mark Goodman, the inner workings of political communication from Melissa Smith and the perfect photo formula from Wendy Roussin.
Then there are professors like Holly Johnson of the English department, who introduced me to James Joyce and Flannery O’Connor, which is reason enough for acknowledgment. But her passion for literature was contagious. She had me reading the Homeric epics with the same excitement I had when reading “Batman” comics as a kid.
There’s also James Hardin, who not only made learning about world religions interesting, he also conveyed the depth and importance of them from an objective standpoint. He stumped the Atheists and the conservative Christians equally, not an easy feat.
Yet, all of my professors had an impact on me. And just as important, most of them were always open to help their students, even if that meant getting a call at home during dinner, or even sleep. I never witnessed that sort of compassion in the educational context before.
There are also my immediate predecessors, Josh Foreman and Elizabeth Crisp. Both had dynamically different leadership styles, but both helped me understand the responsibility of what we as journalists are here to do. Seeing their accomplishments in the professional world is also an encouragement for me as I prepare to delve into the same arena.
In closing my last piece for The Reflector, I have just one more, admittedly cliché thing to say. Thank you, Mississippi State, for everything. I hope I was able to make an impact on you just a fraction as much as you did on me.