By Connor Gray, Online Manager
They say it’s not the destination, but the journey along the way. I would have to say they are right. My chapter here Northwestern is coming to a close, and I wish that wasn’t the case.
Northwestern has meant a lot to me during my five years here. I got to meet amazing people here on campus and in the community.
If you would have told me as a freshman in high school that I would come here and I would be a part of our campus newspaper, I would have brushed it off as a joke. I’m glad that it did become a reality, and I wouldn’t change a thing about coming here.
I had no desire to write for the school paper, but I had to do it for my news reporting class. But as I wrote more stories, the more I enjoyed the opportunities to do so. When the opportunity to be a part of the team for the newspaper came, I took it. As a result, I ended up creating friendships I will treasure for the rest of my life.
When I first met Jordan Green, I didn’t know what to think of him. But now, I think of him as someone I would call a great friend, and there’s never a dull moment with him around.
Cade Kennedy is someone I knew before he came to college. During my sophomore year, I was introduced to him. We bonded over our love of sports, internet culture and memes. A highlight with him is working on the sports section of the newspaper and working on our podcast “The Guys Who Stare at Stats” with Andrew Santangelo.
Another major highlight of college is being a part of the band program. I got the opportunity to play with many different people whom I had never met before, and we put together fantastic music. Dr. Michael Seth Cudd steered the program for three years and did a fantastic job.
The sad reality was that the pandemic really set us back after we came back for the fall of 2021. We lost many people as they dropped band, transferred or graduated. Dr. Cudd left for health reasons, so I had no idea what was going to happen.
Dr. Michael Black came in and reinvigorated the program. Dr. Black is an incredible person who really cares about his students, and all it did was make me a better musician. I’ll always cherish him and Dr. Cudd.
I got to meet wonderful teachers and staff. My mass communication teachers through the years have always pushed me to be better. I would like to thank Dr. Kaylene Armstrong, Dr. Tamara Brown and other previous teachers for helping me to be a better student and a better person. I would like to mention getting opportunities to meet Dr. James Bell in his intro to film class, where afterwards we would talk about films and life. To Dr. Eric Schmaltz: I enjoyed every class I got to be in, especially in-person, as I enjoyed talking about history with you on the many subjects we discussed.
I will miss the news meetings, hanging out with fantastic people and playing brilliant music. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. Ride, Rangers, Ride!
Connor Gray has been a News staff member since August 2021. He is graduating in May.