Hello! Frequent readers of The Stute might not recognize my name as a typical staff writer — I’ve been the Head Copy Editor for the past four years, editing in the shadows fixing Oxford commas, sentences that are just not quite right, and cases of oh no no no how on earth do I fix this fueled by Pepsi and cold pizza in three different Stute offices until the wee hours of the morning. (Ironically, I have a penchant for long, somewhat difficult-to-read but technically not run-on sentences that make my copy editor spidey senses tingle.)
No matter how frustrating things might have been at times, I would never change anything for a second, despite going from a wide-eyed freshman who thought everything was great to a senior who’s a bit more jaded. Anyone who has ever seen my calendar knows how busy I’ve kept myself over the past four years—and I’m definitely going to take a good long nap after graduation—but I’m so glad I’ve been involved with everything I have. Otherwise, I never would have met some of my closest friends, between Performing Arts Pre-O, SDS, The Stute, Theta Phi, a cappella, and the Software Engineering department.
I got to make so many amazing memories over the past four years, and I will be forever grateful for that. From Stute Weekend back in July 2017 where I first met so many people I’m still close with to this day, to right after my very last production night (*sobs*), my Stute fam has been with me through thick and thin. We’ve had a lot of high-stress but also really fun times together, trying to get everything edited before midnight, spilling the tea, and hanging out in the office or on the corner outside my apartment just talking for hours after we submitted the paper.
I was able to start an a cappella group just a month into freshman year with some of my best friends, and we even competed in the competition from Pitch Perfect this year (it was virtual, unfortunately, but me not having to learn choreography and dance like an awkward turtle is not the worst thing in the world). I’ve had so many great times with my friends in SDS, spending pretty much two weeks straight in DeBaun (a.k.a. my second home) each semester during tech week and in between classes, consuming far too much Midtown and bubble tea, going to Bagels on the Hudson at 2 a.m., and hanging out at the pier this year. I’ll always look back fondly on spending time at the Theta Phi house hanging out with sisters, spending time with my amazing big and little, getting artsy for big/little week, and making so many wonderful friends I might never have even met otherwise. As for my Software Engineering friends, we’ve had a great time learning so many new things together and from each other, hanging out at Kung Fu Tea after class, and going to O’Bagel in the 15 minutes between classes and making it to the next one by the skin of our teeth.
I’ve been so lucky to be able to get to know people from all of these places better, starting off as people I was in a club with or doing a project with and becoming friends I can’t imagine living without. We’ve had so much fun together, and some of my fondest memories are our spontaneous late night and weekend adventures, or they happened when I knew I really should’ve been doing something else but stayed for just a bit longer anyway because I was having such a great time. And these unplanned adventures were often the most fun — the things you find when you’re not looking tend to become the most amazing experiences you’ll never forget.
I’m a bit of a perfectionist and like to plan things out, so I have trouble starting things when I’m not sure how they’re going to end, but one of the most important things I’ve learned over the past few years is that it’s impossible to control all the variables. There will always be curveballs, and that’s okay. The best you can do is come up with a plan to start with and then take a deep breath, take that first step, and go with the flow and see where life takes you — you might find some of your favorite people and make the most amazing memories along the way.
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