This is it. This is where I say goodbye.

I’ve been putting this off for a long time, as long as I could, but time has finally run out. I’m leaving and won’t be coming back.

As I’ve avoided writing this, I’ve also been racking my brain trying to figure out how I was going to fit four amazing, influential and tearful (not always the good ones) years into an article.

I decided that first I had to say thank you to everyone who has supported me through the years. Your support has meant more than you could ever imagine. At times where I felt like giving up, your words, admiration, and appreciation made everything I do worth it. So thank you. There are too many of you to personally thank, but you know who you are.

Before I go any further in my goodbye, I want to share a little story. For the longest time, I had no idea who I was. I strove to be a top student because I felt like I couldn’t be anything else. I didn’t really have a talent; being a straight-A student wasn’t one, but it was the next best thing.

So when I joined newspaper my sophomore year, it was like I had finally found something that was…mine. It was the class I constantly looked forward to. I was always asking for more to do, and without me realizing, it just became part of me.

Truth be told, I didn’t think newspaper or journalism would be what it is to me now. At the time, I just thought it was a fun extracurricular activity. I even thought that my junior year, when I became an Editor-in-Chief.  

Honestly, I had no idea what was in store as an Editor, and I wouldn’t trade it in for the world, but it was TOUGH. It still is, or I guess was. Technically we’ve restaffed, but I haven’t graduated yet. It’s complicated. Well not for much longer, or not at all I guess.

Up until March 2017, newspaper was just, well, newspaper. Something I loved, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t planning on selling my soul to it. But then…March 2017 happened.

Je’Nan Hayes was benched because of her hijab. I wrote the story. It ran. And it blew up. I thought that was the end of it…until the Washington Post picked it up. And then CNN, and then FOX, and so many others. It was thrilling; it was all surreal. It was the moment when I knew that THIS is what I wanted to spend my life doing.

When the state law changed and Je’Nan used the attention as a platform for that change, I realized that I had found what I had been waiting for. I was on cloud nine…until Confino went into labor.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Baby C. But I did not love the maternity leave Baby C caused. While the newspaper staff knew what to do and how to do it, we were left with a sub who had a very different vision of a newspaper than we did. So it felt like I was fighting for The Current to stay The Current.

That is when I realized I was ATTACHED. We were the class that built the paper to what it is now. I literally refer to it as my baby because we were there when the online version was born and we have been raising it since then.

Within three months, I realized a few things: 1) Journalism was it for me 2) The Current and I were one and 3) Mrs. Confino could NOT have another child while I was here.

This year was an eventful one. Yes, I won several journalism awards (which I am so honored to have received) but we also uncovered some dirt on the county and THAT was insane. I mean, two high school seniors uncovered history on men whom schools in the county were named after AND were featured in the Washington Post because of that.

Now, I’m finally coming to the end. So I want to thank all of The Current staff for being an amazing family. One that I am going to sorely miss. I want to thank every teacher I have ever asked to leave class to work on the paper–I REALLY appreciate you letting me do it.

And finally, I want to thank Confino. It started with you, and I guess it has to end with you too. Thank you for telling me to take journalism, thank you for allowing me to be Editor-in-Chief, thank you for letting me try 50 million different ideas, and, just overall, thank you for always being there for me.

This is hard. It feels like I’m saying goodbye to a part of me because, in reality, it truly is. If I can leave you with any type of advice it’s to find something like this:

Find your newspaper. Find people that will bug you (Sal), push you (Cam, Nana), convince you (Tyler), support you (Jamie), to make you laugh (Brennan) and so much more. And find your Confino.

Life will be so much more fun once you do. It won’t necessarily be easier, but it will be worth it. Okay, I’ve talked enough. It’s time to say goodbye for good.