The edge of all you know

Andrea Godoy Ranger Web Editor
Andrea Godoy Ranger Web Editor

May 3, 2012

Opinion By Andrea Godoy | Ranger Web Editor

Every May, I think: “This is it. I am done with The Ranger and Amarillo College.
“It’s been a good run and I am proud of what I’ve done, but it’s time to move on.”
And for the past three years, I have found myself right back in the newsroom, writing more columns, stories or reviews and complaining.
If no one has explained it, editors love to complain. It’s in our very nature. I have held every position there is to have on The Ranger and The Current, and I even have held positions that don’t technically exist.
The thing about this experience, like many we all have, is that while you are living it, there is so much that annoys you.
Whether it’s your co-workers, bosses or the people you interact with, all of them do something that makes you want to scream and give up.
But looking back, those annoyances are what give your experiences character. Without character, we never would grow.
If I take nothing away from my experiences here, I know without a doubt that I have grown because of them.
I came into this department with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was terrified.
How was it possible that I didn’t know what to do with my life? You see, when I started college, I did what made my parents happy.
It was OK.
There was only one problem with it: I hated it. I was at a point in my life when I knew if I didn’t do something I wanted to do, I would become complacent, and that was worse than what actually was happening.
Now after three years, I am no closer to knowing exactly what I am going to do with my life, and it’s OK.
My experiences here have taught me that whatever happens, I can take care of myself and I can do things I never thought I would be able to do.
On Monday we began design on my final print edition, and watching it come to life literally gave me chills. I knew in my heart that this was the last time I would be doing this here.
Working as a designer gives me the opportunity to take a vision that has until this point existed only in my mind.
If you have not had the opportunity to experience it before, create something from nothing.
Whether it is something small or the Mona Lisa, that moment where you can point at an object that is being admired and say, “I did that,” is the greatest feeling in the world.
I want to thank everyone who has put up with me. I know there have been times (a lot) that I have not been easy to work with.
I have quirks and weird, obsessive tics, but the fact that you all stuck by me has made me who I am.
Looking back to where I was when I started at AC, I know I am not that person anymore. That girl was afraid to go against the wishes of others. She was pigheaded and stubborn. I might still be the latter, but I am no longer the former.
I owe that to the people who have challenged me to be better than I was before. And now that this all is coming to an end, I know that it really is time to go.
As a wise woman told me recently, “It’s really easy to be a big fish in a little pond.”
In the end, the only thing I can think of to close this is one of my favorite quotes by an anonymous author: “When you come to the edge of all you know, you must believe one of two things: there will be earth upon which to stand, or you will be given wings to fly.”
Thank you for giving me my wings.

Andrea can be contacted via email at andrea.godoy87@gmail.com.

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