Position(s): Daily Sports Writer
Section(s): Sports
Semesters at The Daily: 7
For me, The Daily was the first club I had heard about at the University of Michigan through my brother and his roommate. Sports were everything to me growing up. I had a blog in high school about professional and amateur sports mostly focusing on Michigan State, Michigan and Detroit. When I learned about the sports section at The Daily I thought it would be a perfect fit. Seven semesters later, I know I made the right decision.
Freshman year, I dove headfirst into covering Michigan games and thought it was the coolest thing to see my name on articles both in print and online. When I wrote my fifth article and became an official Daily Sports Writer, I immediately updated my Twitter bio. I want to thank Laney and Mike, my first MSEs, for making that first semester special. I will never forget the kindness you guys showed me and making The Daily feel like home.
The second semester of freshman year I was on the baseball beat and naively scoffed at the team’s chances in the NCAA tournament on a Daily podcast only to see them make it to the College World Series and come a game away from winning the national title. Shoutout to Abby, Kent and Aidan for making every trip to Ray Fisher Stadium fun even if the games were five hours long.
To Max, Ethan and Theo, thank you for believing in me as a writer and always making me feel welcome. Tien, you are one of the most unique people I have ever met. Who else would text me asking if I wanted to buy a stake in an Austrian lower-division soccer club and then not respond to any of my messages about said club. Jorge, thank you for taking me under your wing. You don’t know how much that meant to me freshman year.
Daniel, the world will never forget our combined seven touchdown performance against The State News. Nick Moen, I’m sorry I never made it to a single IM game this summer but I know we’re cool… right, we’re cool? Paarth, you’re so chill it’s unbelievable. Lane, I will never forget when you thought I was an upperclassmen freshman year. Abby, thank you for being a great friend, you’re one of the reasons I stuck with The Daily and I always looked forward to learning the newest tea about the newsroom.
Jared, you’re hilarious and going to be a great MSE. Nick Stoll, I think Aidan Hutchinson has been watching your tape and you’re going to be a fantastic MSE too. Spencer, every time I see you, I just start laughing.
To underclassmen, The Daily is a special place and I’m confident you will continue to make it the best paper in the country and one of the most special places on campus. Don’t forget how much better it is to have things in person this year.
Every story that I wrote and each game I covered was unique (I still don’t understand gymnastics scoring) but the memories that will last are the experiences outside of writing. The State News game is insane and amazing — where else can two writers physically confront each other with no consequences? I will never forget The Daily party sophomore year where the driveway was on fire (intentionally?) with no explanation.
The newsroom always felt like a home-away-from-home. A place where I could go when I was feeling low or just needed to hang out with people. The other sections in The Daily are incredible and I’m thankful to have a miniscule part in this place’s history.
If I take away one thing from The Daily, it would be to not underestimate the impact that you can have on others even if you’re in their life for a brief period of time.
Stay classy, Ann Arbor.