Position(s): Assistant Editor (2023-24), Womens Basketball Beat (2023-24)
Section(s): Sports
Semesters at The Daily: 2
I couldn’t tell you when exactly it happened — the moment that the newsroom started to feel like home and the people in it started to feel like family. It might have been when I went to my first State News practice. Maybe it was when I was in the front row for a tear-jerking rendition of “Paullelujah.”
No matter when it was, The Michigan Daily has changed my life for the better. And it started by showing up.
If you have read a senior goodbye before, you might get tired of seeing the same things: “Joining the Sports section has given me some of my best friends,” or “My favorite college memories have come from being a part of The Daily.” It might seem redundant — annoying, even — to hear about how special The Daily is.
But it’s 100% true.
My biggest regret in college will always be not joining the Sports section earlier. If I could do it all over again, I would have walked into the first Sunday meeting of my freshman year and never looked back. The fear of not having any journalism experience and not fitting in kept me from showing up.
But after watching the Michigan football team in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve, I knew that I had to be a part of it. I knew I had to show up.
In less than a year, I have gone from an outsider to a Daily Sports writer and now an assistant editor and women’s basketball beat writer. If I could have told myself just 10 months ago what this section would mean to me, I never would have believed it.
I’ve covered the Big Ten Wrestling Championship alone, grossly unprepared with just six weeks of writing under my belt. I’ve driven 10 hours to Minneapolis for Big Ten Media Day, sleeping in a “superbed” in a La Quinta inn and coming home with a cough (courtesy of Lindsay Budin) that I still have to this day.
My biggest piece of advice (not that I’m qualified to give it) is to show up and push yourself. Push yourself to conference for a position you don’t think you’ll get. Push yourself to hang out in the newsroom after your edits are finished. Show up to practice — against State News, The Lantern or whatever publication is up for the challenge — even if you’ve never touched a football. Take this newspaper and wring out every memory you can until your hands burn.
If it wasn’t for Jack Glanville (whom I had spoken to just twice before) and Liza Cushnir pushing me, I never would have signed up for editor conferences during my first semester at The Daily. Even though I added my name to the list at 1 a.m. and snagged the very last interview slot, I showed up. If it weren’t for Charlie Pappalardo and Liza (once again) pushing me to go for the dub hoops beat, I might have let my fear of not being good enough keep me from trying,
As the final few months of my Daily career stare me down, I’m staring right back with nothing but gratitude. To the senior editors — Noah, John, Lys, Lindsay, Liza and Charlie — thank you. Thank you all for being great leaders in the section and leaving it better than you found it. Knowing that four of you will continue to be a part of the section next year makes me confident that the culture that you’ve helped create will continue.
To my fellow assistant editors — Tasmia, Jon, Rekha, Remi and Zach — it’s been so fun working alongside each of you. Our creative schedule drops are the highlight of my Sundays.
To the dub hoops beat — Taylor, Sam and Zach — I couldn’t ask for anyone better to fist bump after the national anthem and cover this team with. These next few months of memories are going to be special.
To Noah and Rekha, I have full faith in you to lead this section with level heads. You complement each other so well and I’m so excited next semester to see the great places you’ll take this section.
I thought I would have more time, and the decision to graduate a year early was made much harder by the fact that I would have to leave this place behind. It might not make sense — especially not to my parents — that I seriously considered spending tens of thousands of dollars in tuition just so that I could be a writer for The Daily for one more semester. But that is how much this section means to me.
I know I’m just a few months away from being a washed-up sports writer. But for now, I’ll continue to show up at 420 Maynard St. — a place that will forever be synonymous with the University of Michigan and pushing me toward the greatest moments of my life.