There are many things I wish I could have accomplished before my time ran out at the East Tennessean, but we spend a lot of time thinking about what we missed out on these days because of COVID-19. Instead, I’ll write my last words for this newspaper – on what should have been the release of our summer special edition – and focus it on all the things we did do during my two years as executive editor.
We won Tennessee Associated Press awards. We won SUMMIT awards. We covered two election seasons, including a MAGA rally and a presidential nominee rally. We met celebrities like Drake Bell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. We brought attention to campus issues. We shared accomplishments of our campus community. We sprung to action in chaos. We covered the highs and the lows. We celebrated the life of a campus and community hero. We followed the D.P. Culp Student Center and Martin Center for the Arts as they grew out of the ground. We kept journalism alive despite facing a global pandemic, which is what I am most proud of as I leave.
As I leave, my hope is the East Tennessean will continue to be a place for young journalists to learn and make mistakes and grow – just as I have done many times over. I hope our newspaper will always provide accurate and honest information for ETSU and the community beyond. Most importantly, I hope the East Tennessean will always be a voice for ETSU students.
Personally, this newspaper has allowed me to meet so many incredible people on our campus and tell their stories. It’s allowed me to practice my craft as a journalist while also forming bonds across disciplines, departments and offices. It has also given me the greatest friendships whether with our talented staff, CAS and APS workers, other graduate assistants in Student Life and Enrollment or by just getting to meet people in the Student Media Center for the few weeks we got to spend there. I’m thankful to have played the small role I did because I gained an immeasurable amount of friendship and encouragement in return.
The 2019-20 ET end of year celebration and awards. 
Tyler and I around 11 p.m. after the Bloomberg rally. The new ET production room’s first late night. 
2018-19 production family (Jarrett McGill, Rachel Heatherly and Tyler Wicks). 
Tabling event in the renovated Culp Center. 
Our new recruitment board. 
East Tennessean football tailgate 2019. 
Our last production day in the CPA before moving into the Student Media Center (Emilee Storie, Tyler Wicks, myself and Jarrett McGill). 
The new ET editor office that was missing an apostrophe. 
The last tabling event of 2019-20, just before COVID-19 moved us online (Kayla Hackney, Allison Winters and Kate Trabalka). 
White House press badge from the October 2018 MAGA rally for Marsha Blackburn. 
One of the first (and last) paper production days in the Student Media Center due to COVID-19. 
ET fundraiser at Aubrey’s restaurant in 2019. 
Jackson Goad delivering the paper. 
Garrett Tumlin, Trish Caughran, Bucky and Tyler Wicks serving pancakes at our Aubrey’s fundraiser. 
Tyler Wicks and I in the press pool at the 2018 JC MAGA rally. 
Our 2018 Homecoming parade entry, our delivery electric vehicle turned rocketship. 
Don Armstrong and I on WJHL. 
The ET’s first time painting a square on the Pridewalk. (Tyler takes terrible pictures of me: A series). 
Our 2019 holiday party presents, wrapped in the ET. 
Tyler and I at the 2018 holiday party handling karaoke. 
The picture that probably defines my time at the ET: When I was called “fake news” by the POTUS. 
Me, Trish Caughran and Don Armstrong at my first recruitment tabling. 
2019 ET Thanksgiving. 
More of our spring 2019 Pridewalk painting. 
My first production day as executive editor in August 2019.
Our staff has been an inspiration and shown incredible dedication to journalism, and I’m going to miss you all dearly. Thank you for the beautiful send-off you gave me. Specifically, I want to thank the four people who spent more time with me the past year than anyone: Don Armstrong, my trusted mentor and dear friend; Trish Caughran, my cheerleader and shoulder to cry on; and Tyler Wicks and Jarrett McGill, my best friends and brothers who humbled me every day with their roasts but have also stuck up for me on my toughest days. You four have made it incredibly difficult to say goodbye. I love you dearly, and thank you for being my production family.
I have no doubt our next executive editor, Kate Trabalka, will take care of this newspaper that I have affectionately called “my baby” for two years. She is bright and scrappy and, most importantly, a devoted fact-finder and truth-teller. No one else is more qualified or deserving than Kate to serve in this role, and I look forward to seeing how she progresses our campus news.
Again, there’s a lot I wish I could have done. I could choose to focus on what I view as my shortcomings as executive editor, or I could choose to celebrate all we’ve done. I choose the latter.
As we – the East Tennessean, the campus, the world – move forward, I hope we all can choose to focus on the good we have done and will continue to do.
