"Hello" is the beginning of "good-bye." I hope we meet again.
When you reach your late 20s, you begin to seriously think about your life. For me, being 26 is weird. My brain still feels 18, but I’m no longer on my parents’ insurance. To make matters worse, I’m finally stepping away from the one thing I’ve known my entire life — school.
A moment of silence as I reflect on my years of education at DePaul … Thank you.
On June 13, 2026, I will graduate from DePaul University with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Communications and Media.
I’m a transfer student from the city colleges of Chicago, so I only had two years to settle into DePaul. I didn’t get that typical “university” experience. I never lived in dorms or went to Halloween parties, but I did go to 14 East Live two years in a row. I never had a roommate or participated in Greek life. I never joined any clubs or attended school events. Hell, I’ve never even spoken to my advisor face-to-face, but that hasn’t taken away from my experience.
Community college is a vastly different experience from a university. Before I even thought about applying to DePaul, I was just going to school for the heck of it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do or what my future would even look like. All I knew is that I needed that piece of paper to make something of myself. My choices were to work in insurance — making phone calls, copying documents and filing away papers for the rest of my life — or, going back to school, getting my B.A. and finding something that I love. I always loved to write and during the pandemic my interest about gaming journalism, the trends within the industry and love for esports grew, so I thought to myself, “Why not make a career out of this?” I said bye-bye to insurance, googled “journalism programs in Chicago” and applied to the first suggestion that popped up: DePaul University.
I started in the Spring Quarter of 2024 with Edmund Lawler as my very first journalism professor. He was super sweet and had that “paper boy” feel to him. His class made me realize that traditional journalism wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s very important to stay up-to-date with everything that goes on in the world, but I’m not going to be the person that brings you “breaking news.” I made my first friend in his class and I’ll never forget him, but it made me question if journalism was what I really wanted — until I met Chris Bury.
His news reporting class actually changed the way I saw media and news as topics. Bury, who is retiring this school year, was the first professor that let me report and write my own story about gaming. DePaul has a talented group of faculty members, but man, some of them really know how to belittle your dreams. Bury was the first journalistic teacher I had that showed genuine interest in my passion for gaming journalism. In a room full of broadcasters, I was the outlier, but he never made me feel like my love for gaming was silly or “not really journalism.” My first ever trend story about esports opened my eyes and made me realize that I can do this, that I want to do this. I will never forget him for giving me the space to report what I wanted.
Bury’s support of my unfamiliar topic set the standard and with what followed next, I was not at all disappointed.
Amy Merrick. I’ve had the pleasure of taking four classes with her in my two years here at DePaul: Reporting for 14 East Magazine, Lifestyle Reporting, Magazine Reporting and, finally, my senior Capstone. Each and every class has taught me so much, not just about journalism but about myself. Amy has been a foundation for my writing and has provided me with a sense of self. I don’t think I would be the writer I am today without her guidance. She’s given me the confidence to be myself in my writing and to write unapologetically about gaming. Her enthusiasm about my writing always makes me feel better about what I’m doing. I hope that everyone can have their own Amy in their lives.
Finally, 14 East. My Thursdays for the past nine months have been altered and I know once September rolls around, not having a 6:15 p.m. meeting in the newsroom will feel incredibly weird. The 14 East crew are an amazing bunch of people and I’m honestly sad to see them go. Gia, Sarah, Diego, Seren, Erin, Marcy and everyone else that I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside with — you guys are pretty cool and I’m very excited to see where life takes you all. Witnessing all of the past 14 East alums and their tight-knit friendship with each other made me realize that you all might be stuck with me forever.
Honorable mentions to Peter Forster, whose CMN classes literally changed the way I think about media, and to Martha Irvine, who made me realize that I actually like to edit videos and sometimes your story does in fact … need a reel.
As much as I complain about DePaul, and trust me there’s a lot to complain about, I’ll miss all the memories I’ve made here. I have no connection to the school or the name, but rather the people that I’ve made friends of … you could say we’re interlinked (interlink).
Here’s to the future!
Header Image by Yodaris Frausto
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