I started working at the Daily Egyptian in late 2021 to delay some burnout I could see coming my way as a pre-med student. Also, I had just been fired from my maintenance job at Evergreen Terrace. It was a way to indulge in a childhood hobby and something that brought me joy while I clawed my way through organic chemistry and physics. 

My father made a bet with my mother when I started at the Daily Egyptian that I would switch majors in two weeks. Joke’s on him because it took two years, which is part of the reason why I am graduating later than I would have wished. But if I have ever been one thing in my life, it’s stubborn. So I guess the joke’s on me, too. 

I never wanted to be a doctor until I got to college. I love psychology, and the goal was to become a psychiatrist. All I knew was that I wanted to help people. I could get into the social activism reasons as to why I wanted to go into medicine, but I won’t. Just know, I went across the country for a fellowship program in family medicine, and I talked so much about journalism that the woman hosting me in her home asked me why I wasn’t going into journalism. The journalism bug was clinical at that point. 

From the first month of my time at the DE, everything I heard or saw was a story and/or a photo. Through the ups and downs of this paper, I have loved it from the bottom of my heart. I have met so many people and lifelong friends, and it’s given me so many opportunities. I am sad to say goodbye, but it’s long overdue. I don’t know if it’s hit me until now how much I am going to miss it. But life moves on, and things change. Bigger and better things to come and all that jazz. 

In my time at the DE I have done many things. One of those things was redesigning Gus. I was just doodling one day and came up with the new design. I wanted him to feel a bit more ambiguous than the previous iterations and I think I have succeeded in that. I am happy to see how the current staff have embraced Gus Bode. One of my favorite things to do was to draw the people in the office in the new style of Gus. He is meant to be all of us and we are Gus. I’m excited to see who redesigns him in the future.

I leave the DE with a decent-sized body of work. Some that I wish to never look at again and others that I am very happy with. Some of my favorite work was done when we were sent out of town. For example, Last year we drove 12 hours to Washington, D.C. to cover the inauguration. This year, we went to cover the No Kings Protest in Chicago and we were able to have coverage all over the state. I would have never imagined doing these things before becoming a part of this program. The fact that I got to do these things as a job is still mind-boggling to me. 

I have planted a lot of project seeds in my time here. Some have yet to bloom fully, from podcasts to doing more DE Tries videos. Hopefully, a few more DE tries videos I have had some hands in will go up sometime after I leave. I hope some of these things will come to fruition with the new staff. I will be checking to see what they do next regardless. 

I wish I could say my goodbyes and thank yous to everyone, but it would take too long, so here are some acknowledgements. 

To my first EIC Oreoluwa Ojewuyi, you gave me the opportunity to work at the DE and been a great mentor and friend to me, even after you graduated. Thank you for opening the door for me. I definitely would not have started this without you. 

Managing editor Alee Quick, came at the end of my journey at the DE, but you’ve pushed me in ways that weren’t happening before you came. You were exactly what the DE needed at exactly the right time. I’m excited to see the future of the DE with you as a part of it. 

To professor Molly Parker, I haven’t seen you much in my last semester. I regret not stopping into your office more because I already do. You made me excited to write, even if it didn’t seem like it at times. I still have your slides saved on my computer and I am sure I will be using them in the future, but I will also message if I have questions or need some more mentoring. This is normally where I would put a heart emoji, but this is not a text message, unfortunately.

To Enan Chediak, you are like a little brother to me. I cannot believe we barely spoke in the first two Julia Rendleman classes I took. The D.C. trip really started and solidified our friendship and I am so happy you keep in touch almost every day. Even when it is 6 a.m. and you and Lylee are blowing up my phone so bad I have to mute Snapchat. I say this lovingly, you will never be rid of me. 

To my last EIC at the DE, Lylee Gibbs, who knew we’d be here now. Colleagues, roommates and friends. One day we will go our separate ways, like our friend Enan Chediak, and we will cover an even wider range of the U.S. than we do now. Your drive always makes me want to do better for myself. To the biggest dawg amongst dawgs, you will also never be rid of me. 

I think this last one will be one of the hardest ones to write. I have been in tears most of the time writing this, which makes me not excited for graduation because I am an ugly crier. Being friends with photographers means I know someone is likely to catch it. Super not excited for that photo in whichever of the hundreds of group chats we have. 

To professor Julia Rendleman, we both know this isn’t goodbye. I, along with your other students, bother you way too much for that to even be a consideration. I have only improved since you became the photojournalism teacher, and I will miss sitting in your office with everyone. You have been the most supportive and caring professor I have ever had. I hope that I will make you as proud as part of your first round of students graduating. If there is one thing that makes me happy I stayed this long, it’s the chance I had to be taught by you.

I hope those that I haven’t mentioned know how much their support means to me. This already feels really overdramatic, and I am sure that in five years, when I read this over it will feel even more so. I am excited to join the many DE alumni and I hope I am able to get enough experience to give back to the Daily Egyptian the way other alumni gave to me.

Photo editor Dominique Martinez-Powell can be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @d.martinezphoto 

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