Initially I was going to write something profound and life-changing for those of you continuing on into the next semester, but come on – no one really wants to read that. Then I thought of writing something clever, but that would require cognitive effort. Instead, I’ll just take this small space to gush about myself, this paper, and how much it has meant to me these past two years.

I won’t bore you with the whole story, but I joined The Daily Aztec as an opinion writer when I transferred to San Diego State in 2012. My articles sucked. I knew they sucked. But our now editor-in-chief took a chance on me anyway, and I’m grateful he did. The more I wrote, the less my articles sucked. After a while they even got pretty good. Today, I like to think I’m a damn great writer. Though my writing may have never garnered national attention or crashed The Daily Aztec’s website as some had — looking at you, Leo — I’m still proud to see my name in print.

As a finally-graduating super senior, my advice to you is to take every chance you get, no matter what that is. Everything you do from here on will leave a mark on your life somehow, so it’s up to you to make it a positive one. I’m grateful to have been able to share some pretty awesome experiences, and my coworkers and classmates have become my family. These two years are only a drop in the bucket of my life, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

And because I still have 50 or so words remaining in this article, I’ll leave you with a random piece of advice given by Yogi Berra: “You should always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”

Photo by Monica Linzmeier, photo editor