You know how you entered high school a different person than when you left? That’s me, just a few years too late. But instead of high school, it’s El Camino.

I began my freshman year as an 18-year-old fresh out of high school, with all my best friends at their new schools. I was young, (mostly) alone and unsure what to think of college.

But if you’re really lucky, you meet people at a young age that forever change your life. That’s happened to me here.

I never imagined I would be in the position I am now when I joined the paper in February 2013. I also never imagined I’d have the opportunities I’ve had here, and I don’t think I would have had them at a student-run paper at a big university.

In the past two years, I’ve written about a student accused of threatening to create a school massacre, I’ve attended journalism conferences in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles with university students, I’ve earned respect of several people in the administration and I’ve connected with hundreds of people on campus I wouldn’t have otherwise.

One thing I enjoy the most is telling others I’m part of the paper. People have stopped me around campus to share story ideas. That and being able to inform the community about important things are my two favorite parts of this job.

The simple act of someone going out of their way to tell me something has meant so much to me. I love writing important stories just as much as I love hearing what people want to know about and I hope every person reading this is just as involved with something they care about, too.

When I interviewed President Fallo last week for another section of this newspaper, we talked about his upcoming retirement. He told me, “I don’t want to leave. But it’s time to let somebody else do the job.”

He’s leaving next February. I’m leaving next week. But I felt like he was speaking directly to me and somehow knew exactly what I had been thinking about in recent weeks.

It’s been one of the best times of my 20 years to serve as an editor of this paper for as long as I have. There’s no way for me to give this college, this journalism program and the people I’ve met here enough credit by simply putting words on a page.

Two years ago, I signed up for the newspaper production class because my journalism teacher had taken an interest in me that other teachers didn’t. She made me want to join and the people I’ve met here made me want to stay.

So, thank you, every single editor, staff writer, adviser, classmate, teacher and friend I’ve encountered during my three years at El Camino.

I’m planning on being about 3,000 miles away in the fall, but I’ll be watching and I can’t wait to see what The Union and the incredible people here do next.