I remember coming in as an 18 year old, wide-eyed freshman, trying to figure out this new world called college. I remember at one point my freshman year, I wanted to leave school early because college was not like I thought it would be.

As I creep closer to the final two weeks of college life, I realized how much these four years have meant to me and how much I have grown as a person. I realize that there is more to life than fitting in. It’s important to hold on to your dreams and do whatever it takes to keep them intact.

I didn’t decide on being a sports reporter until my senior year in high school. As a kid, I wanted to be a meteorologist, an ambition I held until I got to my sophomore year in high school and realized I hated math and science. For two years, I wanted to be a news journalist. And then I realized that would be too boring. What makes covering sports so much fun is it reflects life. The Cinderella stories, the idea of survive and advance and never being satisfied can be reflected in sports and in real life. I never wanted a regular 9-5 job, and after taking some time away from covering sports last year, I realized this is what I want to do until I hit the millionaire jackpot and can retire.

Yes, I know its N.C. State athletics, but I have witnessed and covered some high points at this University. These include the men’s basketball team’s run in the ACC tournament during my freshman year and again this year, the wrestling team winning the ACC in 2007, State beating UNC three years in a row in football, and the soccer team making it to the ACC championship game in 2009. And yes, I wish October would start tomorrow so I can watch and cheer for Pack basketball.

I’ve covered a number of sports while I was at State. While people may think that the Technician Sports staff is rooting against any type of success in athletics, deep down inside, I’m rooting really hard for most of the team’s I’ve covered to win. Not only because it makes a great story line, but most of the athletes and coaches I’ve talked to have been a joy to cover.

A number of people have made my time covering sports and college a lot easier and a lot of fun. My friends, I would name you all but that would take up too much space, but I love you guys. Thanks for putting up with my reenactments of my day and telling you what I learned from the History Channel. I would also like to thank Tanner, Dennis, Langdon, J. Mike, Nick, Clark, Brian and Hannah, the staff from my freshman year, for helping me understand how the sports world works from a college student’s point of view. I would also like to thank Brian, Brandon, Mark, Bruce, Pat and Annabelle from Media Relations. Thanks for setting up all my interviews and answering my dumb questions that I probably could have answered myself. I also can’t forget the media relations intern, Ryan, for allowing me to talk my head off about complete nonsense.

I would also like to thank former women’s soccer coach Laura Kerrigan for yelling at me before the start of soccer season in 2008 for something that another staff writer wrote a year ago. She actually taught me something through that incident. When someone is attacking you for something you didn’t do, just hold your composure and keep it moving. You have a reputation to keep.

I would be lying if I said this was not the best four years of my life, but it has been. I’ve grown a lot as a person, and I’m still growing. I love this University with all my heart and will never forget this place. It’s funny when you can truly call a place home, and I can really call State my home. I would sum up my four years at State with a quote from Henry David Thoreau.  “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”