By Riley Blankenship

When I look at my time on The Collegian, it hits me just how much it has shaped my college life without me even realizing it at first. I joined in 2023 thinking this would just be another campus activity, something to put on my resume, something to try out. However, over the semesters, it slowly has become one of the places where I actually thrive and grow the most, not just as a writer, but as a person just trying to find her place on a small campus.

Writing and reporting has pushed me into challenging places I never thought I would be in. It taught me how to navigate people and power and gave me a sense of purpose here at Greensboro College that I did not know I was missing. Now, with only a couple of months before I leave for my study abroad semester in the spring, I thought I would reflect on how much being a staff member has become a part of my identity.

I can still remember the first few weeks of being on The Collegian my freshman year. It felt so daunting hearing everyone pitching ideas, taking notes. I often had this little voice in the back of my mind saying, “Am I even in the right place?” In those early days, I honestly felt so out of place. I felt like everyone else already knew what they were doing; meanwhile, I was still trying to figure out where to begin.

Those moments are what made my turning point in writing so meaningful. Slowly, as the weeks and semesters went on, I started to throw in good pitches and ideas, my articles began to come together more smoothly, I became less nervous when interviewing a faculty member or a student, all of which pushed me out of my comfort zone. I had finally found a space where I was finding my own grip on things.

There are so many memories of being a writer for The Collegian that I did not even realize would eventually become some of my core memories here at Greensboro College. Some of my most special memories have to be all of us staff members and editors sitting around the table laughing about something Xypher, our executive editor, had said or some crazy and bizarre thing that had happened on campus, helping each other out when one of us were stuck on an idea for a piece to write or even debating potential headlines for our articles.

I still remember the rush of interviewing Dr. Archibong about his time here at GC and his retirement, a story that ended up making the front cover last spring, and how writing piece after piece on political issues slowly shaped the path for the journalist I dreamed of becoming.

The Collegian has become one of the few places on campus where people from all kinds of different backgrounds and majors simply come together because we all care about telling stories. I will remember the chaos of those last-minute edits, and the feeling of opening a new issue for the first time. Those were the moments that made The Collegian, in my opinion, feel less like a club or class and more like a small community, one that grounded me through some of my busiest, hardest and most meaningful semesters here.

I think what I will miss most about being on The Collegian next semester is the routine I have created for myself while being on staff. Tuesdays always turning in rough drafts contemplating if the article is needing more edits and then Thursdays being final drafts and making sure everything is situated and placed just right. Through all of the ups and downs of being a writer, oddly enough being a part of The Collegian has been an almost calming spot for me where I feel grounded during the stressful semester with other classes. I feel I can lay aside all the worries and problems with my other classes and just be fully me in something I love doing.

When I first came into Greensboro College as a transfer student, I really had a difficult time making friends and fully adjusting to a new college life. Being on The Collegian has opened the door to making friends and calling those my almost second family, as well as fully allowing myself to just be me. I now see GC so much differently after being here for three years; writing and reporting has pushed me into corners I would have never reached on my own. I have met people I would have never expected, heard stories I would have never heard and, more importantly, I have started to feel part of the community in a way I did not in my freshman year.

As I leave in two months for Maastricht in the Netherlands, I cannot lie and say I have not been flooded with many feelings of excitement for a new chapter in my life along with this bittersweet feeling. It feels rather odd and unusual to leave for a semester after being a part of The Collegian for the past six semesters. I almost feel leaving next semester is leaving a piece of me behind in that Room 206 in Cowan. I am so incredibly grateful for The Collegian and how much it has prepared me for my future.

There are so many things that I learned from the class that I will take with me to Maastricht: always asking the right questions during interviews, always trusting your gut on a piece of your writing even if it seems daunting and challenging and getting a great photo for an article just to name a few. I know this experience in being a writer has prepared me for reporting abroad in ways no class ever could. Maybe the confidence I now have to ask better questions, the curiosity to look beyond the obvious and the voice I have slowly grown into as a writer, are all things I am carrying with me. Being a part of The Collegian did not just make me a better journalist, it also helped shape the journalist I am becoming.