I’m not good at emotions, so bear with me, but after four years and an incredible experience in student journalism, I have a lot of people to thank.

Thank you Andrew, Alec, Camden, Minh, Kaydee, Adi and Alicia for really being the first people to show me that this place was so much more than just the jobs it houses. You all taught me so much and welcomed me into Technician and Student Media, and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Thank you to Kailee and Shri for taking me on my first assignments. Thank you to Linda Hampton-Keith for forcing me to ask my first-ever interview question — and for not making me ask a second.

Thank you to Nick, Tristan and Emma for being the first friends I made at NC State. Thank you to Nick and Austin for being amazing roommates, and to Austin in particular for dealing with the nights we had all the sports guys over. Thanks to Tristan and Caryl for being the most driven and brilliant people I have ever met. I could not have had two better managing editors, and I’m proud to call you colleagues and friends.

Thank you to Jonathan Carter, whose near-mythical status gave me my first impression of what an EIC should be, and for Dan Gilliam and Rachael Davis for continuing to raise that bar. Dan asking me to be his video editor and Rachael asking me to be her multimedia managing editor are why I am where I am today. 

Thank you to everyone I’ve worked with at Technician, because at some point or another I know I’ve annoyed you all, whether it was by arguing that a puck was a ball or by providing one of the many quotes which went on to live in infamy on the quote wall.

Thank you to Vol. 100 for being the most fun editorial board I’ve ever been on. Thank you to Vol. 101 for how we kept each other sane during the pandemic. 

And thank you to Vol. 102 for being everything I could ask for in a crew, with a special shoutout to Avery Davis, Mollie Mitchell, Ann Salman, Allie Remhof and Chloe Allen for being one-woman shows for all or most of the year. Thank you all for the trust you put in me as you worked with me. Everything that I received from those who came before me, I tried to pour into you. I hope that carries on, and I hope you all build upon what we started.

I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done this year in adapting to changing conditions in the pandemic, returning to our full, typical production schedule for the first time in over a year. 

Thank you to the North Carolina College Media Association for giving us 13 awards during its past conference, tied for most in our category and second most for us in the past five years.

Thank you to everyone who supports us, whether that’s donating to the Technician Century Fund, retweeting an article or even leaving an angry Facebook comment. Because of you, we know we’re making a difference, though I will add for the angry commenters that kindness costs you nothing.

Thank you to all the professional staff I’ve worked with in my time at Student Media. At Technician that includes Ellen Meder, Ray Black III and Patrick Neal, but that extends also to my time on the football beat working alongside guys like Cory Smith, Jonas Pope, Brett Friedlander and, briefly, Joe Giglio. The kind words, the welcoming faces, inviting me into conversations as an equal, thank you guys for that. It meant the world.

And thank you to SIDs like Annabelle Myers and Brian Reinhardt, who were invaluable resources for me and cannot receive enough praise for the great jobs they do. 

In my time at Technician, I’ve probably forgotten more amazing moments than I ever expected to experience when I came here. The media hospitality events, the parties, the sad boy hour sessions on the floor of Witherspoon Student Center, the simultaneously disastrous and momentous Technician 100 Gala weekend, the inane office arguments, the early morning production night breakdowns, the flag football tournaments, covering nearly every home football game for the past three years — these were the moments I lived for. The moments that got me through the tough times. The moments that made college feel worth it.

We write, design, shoot photos and videos while juggling a full load of classes, other jobs and whatever else we may be going through at the time — and until our pay goes up in the summer, we’re doing so for very little compensation — and we create lifelong relationships at the same time. This place drains you, but it gives you so much in return.

Technician offers a place to try, fail and try again. It’s a place for growth. It’s a place for challenging yourself. I’d encourage anyone and everyone who comes through NC State to take a stab at writing, photo, video, design, copy editing, whatever suits their fancy. You may just find you love it. I would’ve never gone to the theater had I not covered “Cabaret” for Technician. I would’ve never discovered how incredible a sport wrestling is had I not covered one of the top teams in the country for Technician. Working here means interacting with every part of NC State, and it’s a promise to embrace the campus community in all its diversity.

Whether it’s covering protests, diving into behind the scenes issues, writing editorials or traveling throughout the country to follow our sports programs, the people who come through Technician’s doors — everyone, from the correspondents to the editors — are empowered to create content which rivals any and all of our peers. Everyone doesn’t see how valuable our work can be, but that’s OK. Some do, and that’s enough. Either way, one thing will always be true: No one will cover NC State better than us.

I assumed that leaving Technician would leave me hollow, but I don’t feel that way at all. After four years in student journalism, I’ve given this place everything I had to give, and it did the same for me. Moving on just feels right. 

I leave with absolutely no regrets.

Shilpa Giri, Wade Bowman, Sam Overton and the crew of Vol. 103 have my utmost confidence, and I’m excited to watch them thrive in Technician’s first fully normal year since Vol. 99. My advice: Make this place yours. Push yourself, you’re more capable than you think. And if you ever need me, I’m around. My phone’s just on DND.

Jaylan