* Editor’s Note: This piece is part of the 2023 Senior Sendoff series. You can read the whole series by clicking here.

As I sit here trying to write the last article of my collegiate media career, I cannot help but reflect on my short yet memorable time in the Academic Media Center.

Whether it was for Sentry Media, Colonial Sports Network, or RMU TV, I always found myself in the newsroom for very long hours each day. Those hours were spent not only working and growing as a journalist and producer but also building friendships that I know will last a lifetime.

As many who are involved in various parts of the AMC will say, we are in the newsroom more than our dorms.

I came in with the mindset that if I did not like it, I did not have to stick with it. Little did I know, the newsroom and RMU TV studio would both become my happy place, my home away from home.

I was not involved in the Academic Media Center for very long, only two short years, but I can truly say that I gained more than I ever could have imagined.

Before arriving at Robert Morris University for my first Sentry Media retreat, I was never really involved in any sort of student media. So, how did I end up here?

From a very young age, I knew that I loved watching sports. My younger brother played baseball, starting at the age of six. I was nine.

I became so invested in the sport during his first few years of playing baseball that I eventually started keeping stats for fun. I continued with that hobby until I graduated from high school.

Also, during this time, my love for professional baseball and hockey grew tremendously.

I became increasingly interested in the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins, both the current and past history of each team.

All of this is what brought me to the decision to go back to school to pursue a degree in News and Sports Communication.

At the time, I was working a steady job and had just graduated from Marshall University with a degree in Theatre, so the decision to go back to school came as a shock to most, but I knew in my heart that it was the right decision. Even if I did not have any experience in journalism or media.

And boy was I right!

To say that Sentry Media, CSN and RMU TV have all been a pleasure to be a part of (even if it was only for two years) is a drastic understatement.

I will always treasure and appreciate the amount of support that I received from everyone in the AMC, faculty and staff.

I will end with a quote from Walt Disney.

“If you dream it, you can do it.”

Thank you for everything!