I wanted this column to be funny and quirky but it won’t be. It’s dry and too the point, a lot of who I am. When I first joined Student Media, in the Fall 2014, a friend was telling me about the job and the group of people who made up Student Media.

The job consisted of working my own hours and developing refined selling skills. Being a business-oriented person, it seemed like a dream come true. Half ecstatic, I knew the job could be mine. A week later I applied, got an interview, killed the interview and the rest is history. 

Being a sophomore who had yet to be challenged, Student Media was the spaceship that brought me to consciousness. Every single person in college should join an organization that gets them out of their comfort zone, that’s the truth.

Student Media was mine and I haven’t regretted a single moment. I want to count off the friends I made, because there are many. I could tell you about all the skills I acquired, it’s cesspool of learning. How about the money? Yes, a lot of that.

My journey didn’t taper quite yet; in Spring of 2014 I accepted a position at the top of the Business Division, what a disaster.

In all realness, I appreciate the challenge and ate it up. I applied to be the Business Executive and assumed all the responsibility that came with it. It donned on me that an entire student organization banked on my team and myself to make budget. At times the stress was overwhelming. There is one person I need to shout out who was there to lean on, the best person of all, the one and only, my mama away from home, our business coordinator, Samantha Reid.

Booker T. Washington had a quote that I took to heart, “Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.”

It was a hard choice to make, take on all the responsibility a college student never thought to take on, Sammi told me I could do it. Thank god she was here, else I doubt I would have even stayed with Student Media another semester. I wouldn’t be writing this column now, how sad would that have been?

Student Media changed my life. Every single person in Student Media has played a role in my development and has a place in my heart. Thank you. Everything I have learned in college and Student Media, I will hold on to and cherish with all my might. Now on to the next stone!

P.S. Kenyatta, you’re going to do amazing! Just remember there are people around you who adore you and want to see you shine! Jacob, remember that first time we hung out off campus? Yea you do, keep ballin’ and doing you and I know you’ll be just fine. Oh, Austin, how I enjoyed our inquisitive rants in the office, always off topic and teaching each other something new. Thank you for your patience in me. I wish all of y’all the best of luck and remember you have a friend in me.

Best,

Taylor Norman