With Thanksgiving peeking its delicious face just around the corner, people have taken to keyboards to broadcast a daily reminder on Facebook describing things for which they are thankful.

Me? I decided to take to my column and share some thoughts, and I have plenty of things for which I am grateful.

There are the tangible things like running water, electricity and food that are certainly appreciated on a day-to-day basis. Following Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you have to have certain staples for daily living and there is no need to overlook them, most especially when so many people go without for long stretches in their life.

I have loving parents and family, a warm home, two jobs, lots of friends (most of which don’t claim me), a semi-working vehicle and my health. I’m attending college and improving my skills so I can enter the workforce and be a productive member of society.

I have an inquisitive mind and a thirst for knowledge, both of which have served me well thus far in my quest to be the most journalistic journalist who has ever journeyed. I appreciate the opportunity of being able to return to college for so long and getting another chance to attack life goals with vigor and vengeance. In my two-year absence from school, it never occurred to me to move away from Murray State and start anew because I kept telling myself I had to finish what I started oh-so long ago.

I am extremely grateful for my opportunity in the newsroom. If it hadn’t been for last year’s sports editor Sophie McDonald and news editor Austin Ramsey, I may not have joined the staff of The News at all. For some strange reason, they assumed I was an intelligent and worthy writer (or maybe they were desperate), and they constantly reminded me of open positions on staff.

After writing a piece on my good friend “Maq” for the Diversity Tab, I, at long last, caved into their pleas, taking a position as a contributing writer in the spring of 2011. I’ve been a writer ever since, and as a writer I have had the chance to meet our football, basketball and golf teams, speak with countless campus and local officials, been awarded a KPA Internship and was serendipitously granted access into the Tennessee Titans press box and locker room.

I’ve made connections throughout west Kentucky and have been able to shore up a solid resume and portfolio for my soon-to-arrive graduation. I’ve been able to attend conferences and network with people and just realize there is so much more out there to absorb and be a part of, and it all started with Murray State and the journalism department.

Speaking of the journalism department, I am forever indebted to the knowledge and insight provided by the faculty and staff posted up in Wilson Hall. When I walk out of the CFSB Center on Dec. 15, I know I will be ready to tackle most any challenge set before me no matter the difficulty. I thank you for the many lessons I have learned and for the open forum you have built inside of my heart and my mind, as I hope to put it to great use in the months to come.

I’d also like to take this time to thank Dave Winder, John Brush, Chris Hatcher, Eddie Hunt, Velvet Milkman, Ricky Martin, Dusty Luthy Shull, Neal Bradley, Will Aubrey and several Racer athletes, staff and fellow journalists who have allowed me to interview them over the past two years. Whether it was an actual interview, a friendly conversation or just picking their brain, I may have never gained the confidence required in reporting without having conversations with so many people.

Thank you, staff of The News, for understanding my personal difficulties this semester and for providing me a safe and rewarding refuge to succeed and push through struggles with ease and accomplishment. Had my hands and mind been idle and left to meander into what-ifs and unknowns, I’m not certain I would be racing toward graduation like I am today.

I’m so thankful, after starting college in 2003, that I can finally say the word “graduation” and it not refer to someone else’s big day. And finally, I’m thankful it is college basketball season and that I don’t cover the Racers.

As fun as it is to be in the locker room and talk to Coach Prohm and the players, being a crazed fan in the stands of The Bank cheering at the top of my lungs is a helluva lot more fun than writing game stories.

Well, almost.

Column by Ed Marlowe, Staff writer.