Today is a sad day, my friends.
It is the last issue of this semester's State Press Magazine, and therefore, my last day working in Student Media.
I have been here for three years, so it's the end of a chapter in my life that I will remember as one of the best.
I still recall how nervous I was the first day on the job. I was a sophomore and more wide-eyed than I ever would have admitted.
My first position in Student Media was as the assistant editor of the Web Devil, ASU's online student newspaper.
It seemed like everyone else at the Web Devil and The State Press had been here for ages. Many of them were older than I was and they had developed a clique of cool people.
They reminded me of those kids in high school. The ones who always walked in groups, wearing the best clothes, taking each step with a long, confident stride.
Except these were college kids, and instead of going to the mall, they went to bars. Being that I was 19 and a far cry from a cool kid, I never went with them.
I didn't realize until later how out of the loop I felt as a newcomer to Student Media. Even though I couldn't go out to the bars with them, I wanted to and I would watch them leave for Dos night after night with a tinge of jealousy.
I felt like an outsider.
That feeling of not belonging is part of this week's cover story about two ASU students who are homosexual and religious. (See "Common ground" on page 6.)
With church leaders and community members telling them that being gay is a sin and treating them differently for their homosexuality, these students felt like they didn't belong.
I can't imagine what they went through. Although I have felt like an outsider, it was never anything so drastic as a conflict between religious principle and sexuality.
But as you'll read in "Common ground," the students overcame the stigma of being gay and religious and are now practicing both, feeling less like outsiders.
I, too, feel like less of an outsider after I spent more time with the students of Student Media. And now, as I prepare to say "Goodbye," I know that I was on the inside for just a little while.
And with these, my last words as author of "Admyering the view," I'd like to say "I love you" and "I'll miss our fun times" to my dearest friends and alumni of The State Press, the Web Devil and SPM.
You guys are the greatest.
