Wow, I’m finally leaving the godforsaken basement office that is The Alligator. Despite my cries to never come back at the end of every semester, it is a year and a half later and I’ve finally reached the point where I truly can’t come back. As a Leo sun and Virgo rising, I’m deeply unemotional, so I don’t know how to be sentimental. Instead, I'm just going to spew a bunch of words and stop when I feel like I’ve run out of things to say as a true fire sign with a Gemini moon.
To the editors that made me and others feel like we shouldn’t be journalists: thank you for helping me tap into my psychological awareness. I'm now an empath because now I can recognize when people are emotionally compromised, and I know that news isn’t do or die. Sometimes the best things you can learn aren’t about being a better journalist but a better human.
To all the people who edited my work and taught me how to improve without making me want to quit: I appreciate you. I thought about changing my major about a million times while being here, but I didn’t because people like you saw my potential. Then I somehow made it to Big 3 to try and inspire other writers in the same way: a true Disney miracle.
To everyone I leave behind who will at some point find themselves back in this overgrown closet: remember mindfulness. While it sounds cheesy, the biggest lesson I took away from my time in the J-school and in this office is being mindful of others and myself. Mental health should never be compromised to get the scoop. Check in with yourself. If you can’t communicate how you’re feeling, how will you be able to properly communicate someone else’s story? Yes, journalism runs on coffee, but it does not function on mental breakdowns. Please check in with the people around you because a healthy newsroom is far more successful than one with sleep deprivation.
Speaking of health, remember your vitamin C and someone please take care of the flies in that bathroom!
Gang, gang, gang.
Tranelle Maner was the engagement managing editor of The Alligator
