It’s another semester, another year of the Doane Owl. First, thank you to everyone who supports our work as student journalists; it means the world to us at the Owl.
More importantly, though, this is my final semester at the Owl, my last semester at Doane period! As long as I don’t completely fail my classes (which won’t happen, hopefully…), I will be graduating in May and will be going on to bigger and better things, or well at least bigger things. As my time at Doane ends, I have adopted the mentality that I’m responsible for leaving everything I’m involved in better than I found it before I leave.
Whether it is the Owl and my responsibilities as editor-in-chief, my role as a teammate and competitor for the track & field team, or even my personal relationships with people, there’s a finite amount of time I can spend with these people at Doane that I am now very aware of. There’s a hope that one day, I will pop my head around the corner and see both the organizations I was a part of and the larger Doane community in a better place than they were when I arrived here in 2021.
With the amount of time I have left, I don’t think big sweeping changes to how I act or what I do are the things I need to do to make sure things are left in a better condition than I found them. Instead, I think at this point, it is about planting seeds I won’t see bloom through small and personal decisions.
It’s conversations with underclassmen that steer them in a positive direction or encourage people around me to build productive habits. It involves me being blunt about my mistakes and shortcomings so those around me can avoid some of the pitfalls I fell into personally, athletically and academically at Doane. I’m fortunate that with how little time I have left, there’s no real reason to hold back my earnest and honest feelings.
I want to see the things that made Doane important to me continue on, uninterrupted for years to come. Maybe this is the ultimate mark of getting old (yes, I know I’m only 22). Still, if anything, this feeling of obligation is proof of my selflessness and appreciation for those at Doane who have made my path through college enjoyable and full of kindness.
I hope this last semester is my best one yet and that everyone who has more time to spend at Doane makes the most of it and that they find something they can be passionate about and appreciate long after graduation.
