Passing down the pen and paper

I used to say my goal in life was to leave a legacy. If death came knocking at my door, I wanted to be able to say people would remember me fondly for the things I did. 

Today, I will drive away from the worn-down office off SW 13th Street for the last time with my goal fulfilled.

The Alligator was one of the main reasons I came to UF. I toured the campus in 2018, picked up a copy of the paper from one of the iconic orange stands, and something about it called my name. I just knew I needed to be part of it. 

In my first two semesters, I chickened out of applying because I was convinced I needed more experience, and in my third semester, I was rejected. So when I first walked into the Gainesville Sun building for a staff meeting in Spring 2023, I was shaking. 

Stepping into the tiny room with over 80 staff members who I didn’t know and who I was convinced were infinitely more experienced and talented than me was daunting. But after four semesters of spending my Sundays in editing and food runs, I can say with certainty this staff has become my family, and this office has become my home.

Student journalism is a beast of its own, it grabs you by the throat and throws you to the lions whether you’re ready or not. I’ve dealt with everything from neverending meetings to unresponsive sources and people who will nitpick every sentence in my stories. All of that while doing more than 14 credit hours a semester and working over 20 hours a week. 

It wasn’t easy, but by God, it was so rewarding.

I’ve fallen in and out of love with journalism many times over the past three years, but the one common place I keep coming back to is this newspaper because it’s everything I love about my career.

It’s driving around Gainesville on a Thursday afternoon to get sources for a story due Friday. It’s editing briefs while trying to work out at the gym. It’s multiple texts of breaking news that have set my heart racing and made me get out of bed in a matter of seconds. And it’s also the friends and the connections I made that brought light to every bleak Sunday evening. It’s the million inside jokes that we collect in a Google Document that would make sense to no one outside the office. It’s the multiple food runs and accidental potlucks on editing nights. And it’s the memories that I will hold in my heart for years to come. 

Most importantly, it’s the legacy that I had the honor to contribute to. The walls of the Alligator offices may be old and dusty, but they are filled with stories and experiences from so many alumni who have given their all to make it a better place. Without even realizing it was happening, I have become one of those pieces in the mosaic of people. 

I leave with a heart full of love and a bag full of tales to tell in every future newsroom I walk into, and there’s nothing left to do but be thankful for that. 

So the greatest thank you’s to all my editors, from Aurora Martínez to Claire Grunewald and Amanda Friedman, for putting up with my late stories and rants about my life; to all my reporters and friends, Nicole Beltran, Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp and Kylie Williams, for dealing with my passive aggressive texts and genuinely caring about my input and advice; and the two best people I could have ever asked to lead this insane journey of a summer with, Aidan Bush and Diego Perdomo, for being the good cops to my bad cop and forming the crucial other two pillars of the “Big Three.” 

Thank you for every byline, every masthead and every piece of me that will linger in these walls forever.

I know I’m not the first and will certainly not be the last to cry when saying goodbye to this place, but I’m extremely grateful to be a part of its history and to leave a part of me in its legacy.

With all that being said, I’m looking forward to finally being able to do grocery shopping on Sundays. 

Love you lots and see you later, Alligator!

Valentina Sandoval was the Summer 2024 Engagement Managing Editor at The Independent Florida Alligator.

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