By Phoebe Terry
Co-Editor
College is difficult, obviously. It’s difficult because it challenges students to grow and growing and being out of your comfort zone is uncomfortable and often a little painful. That’s what makes college worth it though.
I’m a first generation college student like a lot of other Amarillo College students, so going into this I didn’t know what to expect out of college. I was a little intimidated by my instructors and I was terrified of the difficulty of the classes I was about to take, but I told myself that I was going to say “yes” to any and every opportunity that came my way.
I got a job as a peer mentor before I actually even started classes and I joined the newspaper and magazine. I had absolutely no clue what it took to be a journalist or how to mentor my peers. Honestly, I barely knew what was going on myself, but I said “yes” because I knew that I didn’t have time to waste.
Committing to something forces you to learn quickly. I wanted to help students the best I could and I wanted to be the best journalist I could be so I learned as much as I could as fast as I could. I rose from being just a photographer to a writer to a page designer to editing a magazine and newspaper. I had no clue what I was doing half of the time and I felt like I was building the bridge as I was walking across it the whole time, but I could feel myself growing as a person every day and that’s what I was after.
If you graduate this semester or you’re staying here and you haven’t found the thing that you want to do for the next 40 years of your life, don’t keep being comfortable. Find what pushes you and keep doing that until it doesn’t scare you anymore.
Print news is dying, so newspapers have to evolve in order to stay relevant. The entire staff of “The Ranger” has done their very best over the past two semesters to consistently produce a quality newspaper that, I hope, appeals to the students and staff of AC more than ever, and I want to thank them for embracing change and being amazing collaborators and colleagues. I’m proud of what we’ve made together.
I also want to thank Jill Gibson, Maddisun Fowler and John Brixen, our Student Media advisers, for pushing the entire staff to be the very best they can be, and for pushing me to do things I would’ve never thought I could do a few months ago. Even if we don’t always take your advice we always appreciate that it’s there.
And thank you for reading the paper. Journalism is fundamental to a functioning society where information is open and accessible to the public. College newspapers give us a chance to tell stories and put out information in new and creative ways and to hone our skills for the future.
You cannot know how much I appreciate you for giving me the chance to find what I’m in love with and do that every day.
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