So long, Saratoga

Four years ago, I started a small internship here at the Saratoga Sun.

I started with zero pay, zero idea what I was doing, and zero plans for the future. I don’t think I was engaged with the idea of the internship very much at first. I thought it might be fun, and that it might look good on my resume, but I don’t think I saw myself consistently returning to work at the Sun every summer I was home from college.

I am now headed into my senior year at the University of Wyoming. These past few months were the first time I got paid full time to work at the newspaper, but it wasn’t the first time I truly appreciated the work I was doing.

The first time I found myself truly loving journalism was when I got to write an article on the Green Mountain ski area. The article required historical research, and so I spent several days in the Sun’s archives, reading through old newspapers to find the information I needed. The feeling of the immense history that I waded through is something that still takes my breath away.

Having over one hundred years of your community at your fingertips is such an amazing feeling!

Despite how much fun I’ve had while working at the Sun, journalism has never been the end goal for me. I’m going to be finishing my degree in computer science because no matter how I like writing, I like tech more. I am hoping to find an IT job here in the mountain west, so I can continue my fishing and hiking quests.

I don’t want to think this is a chapter in my life that is closing because that feels too much like saying goodbye permanently. I still hope to write a few articles while I am over here in Laramie, they’ll just be fewer and farther in between. My love for writing will never let me stop, and maybe you will all be able to read some of my fiction when I become a famous author. I don’t know if I will be back at the Sun next summer though, because hopefully by then I will have a job in my major. As my Dad constantly reminds me, it is almost time to start ‘adulting.’

I’ve had a lot of difficulty writing this column. Saying goodbye to a job I’ve worked since I was in high school feels like saying goodbye to a part of myself as well. It’s also saying hello to a less certain future, where I will unfortunately be forced to become a “real adult” with actual responsibilities. I really want to thank Josh and all of the Sun staff for teaching me so much, and being patient when I might stretch a deadline. I would also like to thank all of you, the amazing Saratoga Sun readership. So many of you have complimented me and passed along encouragement, and I can’t describe how much I appreciate all of that. Thank you, Saratoga!

So hey, if you want me to return to Saratoga sooner, please inform my father that I would be a perfectly good tenant and that I really wouldn’t need to pay rent. Since the odds of that happening are pretty low, I will just leave you all with a fond farewell (for now) and another note of thanks!