The time is finally here. As a tradition at The Clarion Call, I am now addressing readers with my final viewpoint as editor-in-chief. The time has come for me to move on from my position and pass on my responsibilities to an editor who will create her own legacy at The Clarion Call.

As I reflect on this past year as editor, I cannot believe how much has happened. As an editor, I have strived to provide readers with the latest and most interesting news. This often proved to be a daunting task and I would find myself along with fellow editors saying, “Nothing ever happens in Clarion.”

However, this is not true. So much has happened this year. From the stabbing in Eagle Commons and the closing of the Siler Center in the fall to the retirement of a president and the announcement of the failed attempt to toll I-80 this spring.

While we may not have had an abundance of crime and scandals to cover, we did cover what mattered. I am extremely proud of everyone who worked with The Clarion Call this year. It took the dedication of so many individuals to produce a weekly paper.

This past month, The Clarion Call has been accused of bigotry, hate and indecency for shedding light on a national issue that newspapers across the country were also addressing via articles, letters to the editor and political cartoons.

It was the mission of The Call to bring about a forum of discussion in regard to the issue.

As a Christian, I do not hate Catholics, nor any other religion for that matter. If Jewish rabbis were involved in a molestation scandal I would have had no issue running a similar cartoon.

I thank Dr. Rourke for completely missing the point of the cartoon and making me feel more confident than ever with my decision to run the cartoon that week by his outlandish statements against The Clarion Call.

It was this event that made me realize how much I’ve developed in my time at Clarion. Normally, I would have cared what Rourke thought, but thanks to my experiences at Clarion I’ve gained a new sense of self. These lessons didn’t come from the classroom, but from my involvement on campus

When I first came to Clarion, I never saw myself becoming the person I am today. In fact, being the editor-in-chief is ironic in that I almost repeated my senior year of high school due to some difficulty in my journalism class. My experiences at Clarion have taught me more in four years than any class ever could have.

I came to Clarion as a shy guy, with little confidence and little knowledge of what I wanted to get out of my college experience. However, I did know that the best way to get anywhere was to start getting involved with an organization within my major.

I worked with WCUB-TV news as a reporter,  weather man and an anchor for two years. While I enjoyed working in these positions, I realized that the broadcasting field wasn’t the right field for me.
Just as I began doubting my interest in broadcasting, I met previous editor-in-chief, Lindsay Grystar.

Grystar convinced me to start working with The Call. It was this meeting that jump started my career at the newspaper.

I urge everyone at Clarion to become involved on campus. The more you experience, the more you learn about yourself. Whether you’re involved in a educational organization or a social organization, the experiences and different people you will meet will directly mold you into the person you are destined to be.

I’ve met my best friends in college by taking a risk and joining a fraternity. While extremely scary at first, if I would never have joined, I’d never have met the amount of people I have met through Phi Delta Theta, something I wish I would have done earlier in my college career. The fraternity has taught me  that being able to  appreciate different people from all different walks of life is a great quality to have while making my journey through life..

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and individuals have very little control over the destiny of their life. The best thing to do is to embrace circumstances and move forward. You can’t be afraid to try new things and step out of your comfort zone. If you don’t challenge yourself, you’ll never know yourself.

As I leave Clarion after four years, I will never forget the people I’ve met who have shaped me to be the person I am today: the original stoop kids on Becht stoop, the gentlemen of Phi Delta Theta, the ladies of Gemmell, the Dietz Place crew, my friends at WCUB, former and current editors of The Clarion Call, my RA co-workers, the United crew and my ride or die friend Sue.

Thanks to everyone for four wonderful years and good luck to the future generations of golden eagles.