It still has not hit yet, even as I say this: on December 15, at 4 pm, I will be officially graduating from the University of Memphis.
Bear with me here, and if you want to take a few minutes to read the whole reflection, I promise it will be worth it.
Midway through my senior year of high school, in December 2020, my family and I made the decision to move from California to Memphis. Everyone asks me the reason why we made the move, and the explanation is too long and complicated to detail in full, but looking back, it was the most important change to happen in my life to this day.
I came into the University of Memphis as a 17-year-old young man knowing absolutely no one around me, in a completely new setting, and having to actually go to school in person during the pandemic recovery process. The social anxiety I had already developed as I was growing up had its peak during this time.
However, things started to trend upwards as I started to step into more involvement on campus. I formed foundations with a lot of integral people in my support system, and I really started to hit a growth spurt going into my sophomore year of college.
It was not always easy, however, as one expects of the college experience. In particular, the winter of 2023 going into 2024 was the hardest stretch of events I had ever experienced. I lost my stepfather to illness, experienced heartbreak, and had to balance all aspects of life at the same time. I did not know how I was going to continue college at this rate, and I struggled to find purpose.
During this stretch, however, I made a decision that will forever change my life, and that was my decision to get involved with the journalism department on campus, starting when I reached out to Anne Marie about joining the Daily Helmsman.
I loved writing stories during my time here, and I am proud to have served as the managing editor during this fall semester. During
my time with the Helmsman, I met one of my best friends, Paige Walker, who introduced me to The ROAR Radio we have here at UofM, and she really inspired me to have my own show talking about music on an actual platform. Needless to say, the department has provided so much opportunity to someone who never even thought about going into journalism entering college.
As I close out this chapter of my life, a chapter which has given me so much love and appreciation for people who really go through college, I wanted to use this opportunity to thank everyone who has gotten me here. First and foremost, thank you God for giving me the tools I needed to get through every aspect of life with joy and optimism for the next day. I thank my parents for raising a young kid who did not have many friends in the day to a young man who has an important culture surrounding him. I thank all of the friends I made here at UofM for telling me the things I needed to hear, giving me the support I needed to succeed, and accepting me for who I truly am.
I am not certain of what the future holds, but one thing I do know is that the University of Memphis has been nothing but fruitful in my development as a person, a student, and a child of God. If you made it this far into my reflection, I thank you for letting me say everything I wanted to on a platform I really value. Go, Tigers, Go, forever!
