It’s hard to believe that after nearly four years at copy desk, my time with the Advance-Titan is coming to an end. I joined the A-T as a nervous freshman who hadn’t even taken the intro journalism course yet; I just wanted to get involved.

I kind of owe everything to Katie Knox, who was the editor in chief when I joined the A-T. She was eager to take on a kid who had no idea what she was doing and give her a chance on copy desk. I grew from a freshman who didn’t know the difference between a headline, cutline or byline, to copy chief my senior year. So Katie, my first thank you goes out to you.

Working on copy desk for so many semesters definitely came with its fair share of good times, laughs and memories. From having spirited debates about commas to casually discussing the professor who killed his family to going on coffee runs right before Mi Taza closed, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Being on the A-T shaped my undergrad years by being the first organization I joined and everyone knows I’ve been involved in a lot of other things on campus my four years here. I was fortunate enough to write and edit stories for the A-T as well as make a lot of friends as I got to know editors, writers and deskers.

Another thank you goes out to Garrett, who was copy chief my freshman and sophomore year. Garrett taught me everything I know about editing, how to have fun on desk and that the copy chief always gets to use a red pen. He was always patient with me while I learned and explained things well, albeit sarcastically. Garrett, I wouldn’t be the editor I am today if it weren’t for you.

My next thank you is for Calvin. From complaining endlessly about NEM, working on homework for PR Techniques or just talking through edits on stories, you’ve always been a fearless leader. Thanks for always being there for me and for desk!

Jack, you’ve come so far since you joined the A-T. It’s been so cool watching you learn and grow and climb your way up to editor-in-chief! Christina and Nikki, thank you for always getting your pages on desk and being there to just talk about life, eat good food and laugh in the late hours of production night. Evan and Ally, I’m sorry for always complaining about how I “don’t know the sports” and for asking you a million questions about everything except football.

My biggest thank you is for Cody, my living, breathing AP Stylebook. Cody, I never would have made it through the last two semesters without you. Thank you for staying with me every single night and waiting it out until the very last page hit desk. Thank you for offering the occasional unexpected joke that would get the whole newsroom laughing. Thank you for knowing the answer to literally every question I ask you when I’m too lazy to look it up. Thank you for name checking. You are going to make one amazing copy chief next year!

And of course, I never would have gotten through my undergrad without Vince and Barb. Thank you both for being amazing role models, supporters, mentors and advisers at the A-T.

So, with that, I say goodbye to the A-T. It’s been a wild four years, and graduating is definitely bittersweet when you leave amazing things like the A-T behind.