Wow, here we are. It doesn’t seem real that I’ve been here four years, and an editor for 2.5 years, and it’s time to say goodbye. Working with Technician has been by far the most rewarding experience of my college career. 

I knew from my experience on my high school paper that I wanted to join Technician, and I signed up three days after I moved into NC State. In the time since, I’ve grown so much and learned so much as a writer and editor.

I’ve learned how to bring top-tier reporting to every sport I cover and about taking pride in everything you write and put your byline on. I’ve learned how to work effectively with others to produce a finished product, with everyone bringing their combined talents together.

I’ve learned how to manage and train others, and encourage them to bring out their best work by teaching them the value of their byline.

Working for this paper has provided some of the most enjoyable experiences of my time in college. I’ve made lifelong friends among my fellow section editors and sports writers. I’ve gotten to watch writers I trained and taught continually improve and flourish into some of the best writers in our section today.

This past year has brought me the joy of getting to train and work alongside my younger brother as a sports writer, and I’m so proud he’s going to take over as one of the assistant sports editors next year.

I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished as a sports section in my time here. When I took over, we were barely covering some of the non-revenue sports, and now we have dedicated beat writers for almost all of them.

We’ve grown our social media presence and established a weekly podcast to discuss the world of NC State and North Carolina sports, which was always a goal of mine. I’m very proud of how it turned out.

I’ve been so lucky to be a sports writer at an ACC school and cover a wide range of amazing events, from NC State football, basketball and baseball games, the ACC men’s basketball tournament in both New York and Charlotte and the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

I’ve gotten to fulfill my lifelong dream of covering NHL hockey as the Carolina Hurricanes beat writer the past four years, and this year have been fortunate enough to cover the Stanley Cup Playoffs both at home and on the road.

I’ve got a lot of people I need to thank here. Thank you to Jordan Beck, the sports editor who hired me, for giving me a chance, teaching me and, especially, for absolutely laying in to me and teaching me the value of my byline the one time I half-assed an assignment. That lesson has stayed with me all this time and will forever.

Thank you to the other sports editors who came before me — Daniel Lacy, David Kehrli and Drew Nantais — for working with me to continue to improve my writing, training me to be a good editor and still always being there when I need advice.

Thank you to my family for always being my biggest supporters, reading my articles and sharing them on social media. Special thanks to my Dad and Grandma for being my backup copy editors and pointing out my mistakes after the fact.

Thank you to Jonathan Carter, my editor-in-chief over the past two years as sports editor, for being the best boss I’ve ever had and showing me what a good leader looks like. Thank you to our former editor-in-chief, Rachel Smith, for being the first one to take a chance on me as an editor.

Thank you to my fellow section editors over the past two years for making the newsroom a fun place to be and teaching me what it takes to work as a team to create a finished product.

Thank you to Mike Sundheim, Kyle Hanlin, Pace Sagester and Mike Brown for being willing to give a student newspaper credentials to cover an NHL team, and giving us an amazing opportunity for new opportunities and growth as writers.

Thank you to Fred Demarest, Annabelle Myers, Craig Hammel, Brett Compton, Justin Wilson, Brian Reinhardt, Matti Smith, Claire Fischer and Lizzie Hattrich and everyone else at NC State athletic communications for all of your help and support over the years. Thank you for being great to work with and always accommodating our needs to bring the best coverage of NC State sports that we could.

Thank you to Brian LeBlanc, Cory Smith, Joe Giglio, Chip Alexander, Peter Koutrumpis, Kurt Dusterberg, Cory Lavalette and all my other mentors in the local sports media for always answering my questions and offering advice.

Thank you to the various coaches and athletes I’ve covered, for allowing me to tell your stories.

Thank you to every sports writer who came through here while I was an editor, for bringing a passion for sports writing and a willingness to learn. I’m proud of all of you and can’t wait to keep reading your writing going forward.

Thank you to my assistant sports editors in my time here, Alec Sawyer, Camden Speight and Nick Sinopoli, for working with me to elevate the sports section to where it is today, and navigating the challenges of running a section.

I’m going to miss this. All of it. From covering football and hockey games, traveling to sporting events, to the countless food runs during long production nights, to goofing around during meetings, to long nights waiting on print pages, to scrambling to make sure we have enough passes for the weekend, to teaching new writers the ins and outs of sports reporting and to the fun trips we took together on breaks; all of it.

My time here went too fast, and for those who are sticking around and starting up, I encourage you to always take the time to enjoy what you’re doing here.

I’m incredibly proud of our incoming sports editors, Camden, Jake Caccavaro and Nicholas Schnittker. They’re going to do great things, and I can’t wait to watch them take the sports section to new heights.

I’m not sure what comes next, but I’m looking forward to taking the next step in my sports journalism career, and I’m always going to be thankful to Technician for making me the writer and leader I am today.

There’s one last thank you to dish out. Thank you to everyone who’s read my stories in this space over the past four years, especially the many entirely-too-long pieces (like this one) I’ve put out. Without the readers, there are no stories.

With that, I’m signing off as your sports editor. I can still write for Technician until the end of May, so you aren’t quite done with me yet.

It’s been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this paper and its sports coverage over the past four years. So long, and thanks for reading.