By: Ellie Simmers | Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief Ellie Simmers | Ghislaine Lewis
I have never been good at dealing with change. As a little kid, I wrote a goodbye letter to a recliner and table we were getting rid of because I couldn’t bear the thought of having to adjust to something new.
As this semester comes to an end and I enter into the last year of my undergraduate degree, I have been reflecting on the change I have experienced at the University of Lynchburg since coming here in August 2023.
There have been many changes that I am still trying to understand and adjust to, like the loss of El Si, which I have missed every day since it left, and the closure of the gym on the second floor of Drysdale, which had the best yoga spot on campus.
There have been bigger changes as well, such as the loss of opportunities like Model European Union and Model United Nations due to a lack of faculty to lead them, and program and faculty cuts that continue to affect campus life and the community.
As hard as change is for me, the university I chose to attend the moment I stepped onto campus for a visit is still the one I will graduate from in May 2027.
If there is one thing I’ve learned from my time as a Hornet thus far, it is how your biggest disappointments can turn into your best experiences.
I started college as a political science major, but had a really bad experience in my first semester and no longer wanted to be in that department. I was devastated because I had a plan and it had fallen apart.
However, I was lucky enough to be placed in Dr. Michael Robinson’s COMM 101 class that same semester, and I instantly fell in love with communications, changing my major that spring.
During my sophomore year, I was sitting in Dr. Ghislaine Lewis’ Media Writing class when I was encouraged to apply for a position at The Critograph, the student-led newspaper.
Now, I am leaving my junior year as the Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, president of the Public Relations Student Society of America and a part of a department that has always supported me.
I’ve had close friends leave or transfer, but I’ve also made some of my best friends from those who have transferred here.
El Si may be gone, but I look forward to every Friday when they bring it back to the dining hall.
I will continue to dislike change, especially when it means that friends and mentors will be hours away, rather than minutes.
However, instead of writing teary-eyed notes to tables and recliners, I will try my best to embrace these changes, knowing that there could be something just as amazing on the other side.
