If there’s one thing college taught me besides how to be a journalist, it’s that you can’t force friendship.
At the Alligator, I didn’t even have to try.
I transferred to UF as a junior. I knew I would struggle to find my squad, so I threw myself into situations I thought would result in friendships.
I had no interest in being in a sorority, but I figured it was a surefire way to make friends. Out of almost 200 women, I ended up with a few friends who weren’t all friends with each other, and we didn’t hang out much outside the sorority.
I swallowed my social anxiety and talked to people in class. This landed me a few friendly faces in a lecture hall, but no one I could really rely on for much more than lending me a spare pencil.
I joined clubs. I sat at crowded tables in Library West. I even chatted with people in the line at Starbucks even though I despise small talk.
I heard people in my journalism classes rave about the Alligator and how their co-workers were like a second family to them.
As a contributing writer, I saw the desk editors and the staff writers share inside jokes over Leonardo’s rolls. I longed to belong to their little family.
But I was nervous.
What if I wasn’t good enough? What if I couldn’t balance the workload with my schoolwork? What if I failed?
I finally mustered up the courage to apply during my final semester of my senior year.
I worked on the application for almost two weeks while I was at my summer internship.
They accepted me.
Not just for the position, but into their little family.
After two long years of desperately trying to find friendships, I enjoyed four short months with people I didn’t have to try to impress.
They accepted the strange dichotomy of a person who has blue hair and a partially shaved head, but is also obsessed with unicorns and Taylor Swift.
They didn’t judge me when I sat in the office and watched the "Wildest Dreams" music video over and over and over again the night it premiered. They were happy to see me happy.
In fact, I was thrilled to discover my editor felt the same way about pandas as I do about unicorns. I was instantly welcomed into the Panda Squad. And the university editor on the other side of the cubicle wall was always down to gush about Taylor Swift’s perfection with me.
They valued my writing and assured me I would be able to get a journalism job in New York City, even though it’s much more likely, as a Florida native, that I will only get frostbite.
I can’t thank you enough for these four months. The memories I’ve made with you all will surely keep me warm throughout New York’s coldest months and beyond.
Thank you for making my last semester at UF not only my most rewarding one, but also the most laughter-filled four months of my life.
Brooke Baitinger is a graduating UF journalism senior. She is a staff writer at the Alligator.
