If I could sit down with 18-year-old Eugenie Budnik, she would be utterly perplexed by the twists and turns of her undergraduate journey.

I arrived at San Diego State with dreams of becoming an elementary education teacher, eager to shape young minds and nurture the next generation of learners. 

Despite my major, I felt pulled toward the campus newspaper, The Daily Aztec. My high school days of dabbling in a newspaper — where I was often the sole female voice — instilled in me a desire to continue pursuing journalism, even when COVID-19 abruptly halted my junior year.

As I grappled with feelings of uncertainty and a sense of being out of place among my peers in elementary education, The Daily Aztec grounded me in a sense of belonging.

I’ll never forget a conversation I had over lunch one day in the newsroom, where my former Editor-in-Chief, Catlan Nguyen, encouraged me to explore the world of journalism. While I was afraid of making changes to what I had drafted up as my “five-year plan,” Catalan encouraged me to pursue what inspired me the most.

I turned in the “major change request” form the next day.

With support from mentors like my former news editor, Katelynn Robinson, and fellow writer-turned-editor Christian Houser, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and professional growth. Together, we navigated the challenges of sustaining the news section. We took risks that 18-year-old me could never have imagined.

One such risk was baring my soul to the world through journalism, under the guidance of my former opinion editor, Katy Stegall. In this piece, I shared my struggles with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and disordered eating, laying bare my vulnerabilities in the hope of sparking connection and understanding. The overwhelming response from readers, who reached out to share their own stories, reaffirmed the power of storytelling to foster empathy and solidarity.

But my proudest moment was assuming the role of news editor alongside my talented co-editor, Hannah Ly. It was a milestone that would have brought tears of joy to freshman-year me — a testament to how far I’ve come since those initial days of uncertainty.

Throughout my three-year-long undergraduate journey, I’ve been privileged to have a wide support network that has weathered every storm with me. To my parents Nicole and Eugene, siblings Liam and Liz and my fiancé, Luke, whose unwavering belief in me has been a constant source of strength, I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude. 

To my grandfather, Rudy Oriol, I am thankful for the SDSU sweatshirt he brought to me as a tiny baby living all the way in Japan. It’s this purchase that I believe was the catalyst for my journey at SDSU… even if I didn’t know it yet. 

The Daily Aztec was more than just a campus extracurricular or a job — it was a space where I felt accepted and valued for who I am.

As I bid farewell to my undergraduate years, I do so with a sense of excitement for the future. While this may mark the end of one chapter, it also signals the beginning of a new journey as I prepare to return to SDSU in the fall for the master’s program in communication and mass media with JMS.

So, this is not a goodbye to The Daily Aztec; it’s a promise to continue writing my story, one byline at a time.