Dear Bruins,
I want to take this opportunity to reflect on my time here at Salt Lake Community College.
About two years ago, I began to see my friends graduate college, and I began to feel left behind. Fear of failure kept me from pursuing a college degree due to previous shortcomings in high school.
At that time, I thought I was going to be a marketing major. I took a few classes but was without a realistic goal of what I wanted to accomplish with my time at SLCC. I had always wanted to work in journalism — particularly sports — since I was in high school, but a dream like that seemed too lofty for someone like myself.
Within the walls at SLCC, I was given the opportunity to chase that dream, with encouragement and strong guidance at my side. The most important people to me here are those who helped foster my creativity and pushed me to shoot for the moon and the stars — despite my dread of crashing back to Earth.
What I found at SLCC is a world full of opportunity to those who seek it. The most important thing I learned at SLCC is: seize the opportunities as they come.
The window for your one shining moment may not last very long, and you have to be ready for it when it shows up. SLCC made me realize that the world doesn’t wait for one single person, you have to go out and pursue the things you want.
Lastly, understand your purpose. You have invested the time at SLCC and understand what you want to do with life, now you must go out and do it.
SLCC can get you where you want to be, and I know that from experience. I’m trading in the snow for some desert cacti. I’m going to one of the top journalism programs in the country at Arizona State University. I’ve found my purpose, and now it’s time to chase greatness.
If you are like me, done at SLCC and ready to move on to the next chapter of your life, take this with you: leave your mark and be extraordinary.
I can proudly look back on my time here and the things I’ve accomplished. I can honestly say I never expected I would actually get to the point that I have. From Nick Offerman, to Bobby Seale, to Gregg Popovich and Donovan Mitchell, my time at The Globe and KSL.com has been the best times of my life.
Thank you to Matt Merkel, Alison Arndt-Wild, Marcie Young Cancio, and Zac Hodge for being my Mount Rushmore of influencers over the last two years. I can’t thank the four of you enough for believing in me and allowing me to blossom into the writer and reporter I’ve become.
The Globe will be in excellent hands in the future, and I have to thank my staff for being incredible this semester. None of this would be possible without your hard work and dedication to the paper since the beginning. You guys will do so much good with the paper. I couldn’t be more thrilled to see how successful you will all become.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk, and go Bruins.
