Truthfully, I didn’t know I wanted to write this until I started crying at 2 a.m. on a Friday after submitting (what I thought would be) my last article for Her Campus at FSU. There’s suddenly so much I want to get off my chest. I may be writing this article with tears in my eyes, but I still managed to curate a Spotify Playlist to mark the end of this era. I think it’ll be beneficial to any reader’s overall experience of this article.
On May 1, I walked across the stage at Florida State University’s commencement ceremony. But, on the day I write this, I had to say goodbye to two of the most consistent communities I have ever been a part of.
The Special Events Committee at the ASLC
During my freshman year, this committee thrived and I enjoyed the events that we were able to arrange for the student body. That is, until COVID-19 came along. It was a lonely time on campus during the 2020-2021 school year, with little to no safe activities to participate in. It was not until this year that two of the best leaders revived the Special Events committee and built a team of lovely people who actively display their passion for preparing events. It felt exactly like freshman year all over again (in the best way). Amie, Samantha and Andrew created a space in Special Events that I wanted to be in every Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Her Campus
Her Campus had been on my radar since freshman year. I knew about it even before then, thanks to a few FSU YouTubers I used to subscribe to. Even though I knew I wanted to be a part of this organization, I was too afraid to apply. Fear held me back a lot because I did not know if I had the skills or professionalism to work in this organization. By my second year at FSU, it was time to make my move; I had talked myself out of it for far too long. I drafted a writing sample about the entertainment industry’s obsession with nostalgia reboots and gathered feedback from everyone I knew.
A few weeks after my submission, I was offered a position as a staff writer and it’s not extreme to say it was life-changing. My first article was a profile piece for a woman who I admire and now work closely with for a non-profit foundation. Her Campus provided me with a platform to research, write and share content with a variety of target audiences (even though I may have written most of them for myself). Every few weeks, I wrote K-Pop news columns and sat down for interviews with friends who were doing amazing things that deserved to be recognized. I wrote about my “main character” phase, and it is clear how reflective my articles have been of my experience these last few years.
Imagine now doing all this while also making amazing connections with other talented and spirited college women. Kalijah, now one of my closest friends, was assigned as my editor during my first semester. Even though editors are rotated every semester, I was able to have Kalijah edit my articles again during my final semester. My time at Her Campus has truly come full circle, and it is another constant in my life that I cannot imagine not having. Having two of my constants for the past three years end on the same day may have pushed me over the edge. Maybe just a little bit.
On a regular basis, I seem to always be desperate for a new beginning. I always want to try something new, see something new or be someone new. But what I never realize is that some things must end so that new things can start.
“New beginnings are often disguised in painful endings.”—Laozi
These painful endings also solidify the fact that I’m growing up, which I never agreed to because, mentally, I’m 12. In all seriousness, you never know what you have until it is gone. I tend to believe that I did not accomplish much and that I did not make the most of the three years of undergrad that I spent here, especially given that most of it was spent in a pandemic. But you never realize you are in “that” part of your story until you are out of it. When I consider everything I have done, the people I have met and the things I have been a part of, it still feels rather satisfying.
It has been an honor, Florida State.
HCXO, Nyala
P.S. It seems kind of dramatic for someone coming back to FSU for grad school, but who am I if not dramatic? 😉
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