Headlines and punchlines: Three (and a half) years well spent writing for The Daily Helmsman

That’s a journalism joke for those who didn’t get it.

I’ll be honest campus community, I don’t know exactly where I’m going next in life. But hey — three and a half years ago, I had no idea I’d be the editor-in-chief of The Daily Helmsman either. I was searching for myself in college (switching majors a few times in the process), and somehow I landed in the editor’s chair. Life can take you places. It can surprise you, and sometimes you can surprise yourself with how you rise to each occasion.

For the last words I’ll type to be printed in my favorite campus newspaper, I’ll share my story — the way I see it, from a source who arguably  is incredibly reliable. 

Sometimes college is hard. Sometimes you sit on a bench listening to the Goo Goo Dolls wondering why you auditioned for the University of Memphis Wind Ensemble when you can barely read sheet music. Sometimes you don’t want the world to see you because you “don’t think that they’d understand.â€

Sometimes you’re a little old to still be in your emo phase.

Sometimes you know when to quit something. Sometimes things are “meant to be broken.†Other times you know you have to keep trying to fix them.

Sometimes you need to fill your time doing something productive to get a girl off your brain, so you apply to this Daily Helmsman place you heard about.

Sometimes letting go of your high school sweetheart can lead to the best decision of your entire college career — maybe your life. 

Sometimes you grow a beard. 

Sometimes an editor takes the time to tell you your writing reminds him of Hunter S. Thompson. Sometimes somebody makes a difference. Sometimes you find your place. 

Sometimes you mess up. Sometimes you drop the ball. Sometimes you push the wrong button in Excel spreadsheets, run a graph that misrepresents how an entire department will be affected by a university budget model and get a strongly worded email sent to the paper as a result.  

Sometimes you learn from your mistakes. Most times you grow from them.  

Sometimes you tell the editor of The Memphis Flyer you’re an English major, and he responds with “So you want to work at Starbucks the rest of your life?â€Â 

Sometimes you get a D in a Fiction Writing class (I’m still mad at about that).

Sometimes you change your major. 

Sometimes 8 a.m. is a terrible time to try to learn music theory. Sometimes there’s not enough coffee in the world. Sometimes you change your major again.  

Sometimes you know made the right switch. Sometimes your news writing professors start making a lot of sense. Sometimes you know exactly what you should be doing. 

Sometimes you fall into something. Sometimes you see an opportunity or two. 

Sometimes you get to French kiss a German girl. Sometimes you walk through campus listening to Frank Sinatra on a perfect sunny day. 

Sometimes you study abroad. Sometimes you feel right at home going somewhere you’ve never, ever been. 

Sometimes you wind up freestyle rapping with a stranger on the streets of Paris. Sometimes you grab a beer. Sometimes you make new friends. 

Sometimes you come back from a beautiful, life-altering adventure and, within a few hours, lose your cat to the wheels of a pickup truck passing by your front yard.

Sometimes beautiful things leave us. Sometimes things don’t work out like we hoped they would. Sometimes there’s not really a good reason why bad things happen. 

But sometimes life is a gift in the first place. Sometimes the best way to honor those who aren’t with us is to keep being the person they loved while they were here. Sometimes you remember who you are. 

Sometimes a home away from home can change. 

Sometimes your new boss is an egomaniacal tyrant (sips tea) and a conlfict-junkie.

Sometimes half of a promising staff quits their favorite campus newspaper. Sometimes you get to pick up the pieces. 

Sometimes hate is powerful, and you can have every reason and more to give into it. Sometimes forgiveness is hard, and complicated, but eventually can lead to the right and healthiest course for you.

Sometimes you get really good at picking up the pieces. Sometimes you feel like they aren’t all there yet.  Sometimes those with good intentions tell you one more semester isn’t a good idea. Sometimes people don’t know what’s best. 

Sometimes you know when to leave a party. Sometimes, if you stick around an extra hour, you’ll have a great conversation or two. 

Sometimes you spend a summer contemplating. Sometimes you buy a $400 video game system off Amazon to “treat yo self.â€Â 

Sometimes playing guitar for a summer camp reminds you of the impact you can have on a community. 

Sometimes a summer ends on a sour note. Sometimes you needed a kick in the ass. Sometimes you get focused.

Sometimes you wear a tie. Other times you feel like a T-shirt’ll do it. 

Sometimes you get to be the leader no one expected you to be — sometimes you knew that you were going to be the whole time. 

Sometimes you stand your ground. Sometimes you hold your cards. 

Sometimes half a decade after high school you get called into the principal’s office.

Sometimes the world seems to change around you. Sometimes the world needed to change.  

Sometimes you can’t forget the past. Sometimes you shouldn’t try to.

Sometimes you take a breath. Sometimes you wonder where you’ll go. Sometimes you think about how you got where you are and think back on the people who helped you get there. 

Sometimes your 98-year-old grandmother can’t hear much of anything anymore, but reading her grandson’s stories in the printed college newspaper gives her a different reason to smile every week. 

Sometimes you find yourself writing about your late grandmother in an empty news room on a Friday night. 

Sometimes the best way to truly honor those who aren’t with us is to keep being the person they loved while they were here. Sometimes you remember who you are.

Life is full of personal stories — from briefs to front page features, and they’re happening day-in and day-out, all the time. Life is full of headlines and punchlines — moments that break you down, but moments that build you up with humor and joy as well. The trick is to keep laughing and smiling as often as you can. 

I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the funniest and most focused young men and women I’ll ever know during my time at The Daily Helmsman. Meeman 210 has seen me change from a scruffy kid who likes to write about music to a scruffy editor who likes to write about how he used to like writing about music. Through each staff iteration, I’ve found reasons to smile, laugh and grow, no matter what the newsroom was up against.

To those who have kept up with the pages of this paper as well as those who have reported, edited, photographed, illustrated and stressed beside me along the way — may your stories be bold, may your passions find you, may you see your setbacks as opportunities and may laughter hang on the horizon of each new beginning.

It’s been an honor to be your editor. Auf wiedersehen!