Column by Kelsey Randolph, Sports Editor

Murray State has been a breeding ground for firsts. It’s where I discovered another human being as awkward as me, where I watched the stars truly fall, where I’ve seen support go further than a pat on the back, where I walked into a position I knew nothing about and where I finished a four-year race to the finish line we call graduation.

Farewell is never goodbye, I’ve left my legacy with my successor, and it will hopefully leave a lasting impression that will carry with future editors. Murray as a city has been more than gracious to foster me as I grow, succeed, fail and then pick myself back up.

Being a student journalist can be difficult. You’re held to the same standards as every other journalist, but you’re still trying and sometimes failing. It’s inevitable that something will go wrong and you’ll write a story that will make an entire department dislike you, and they may even tell you what you wrote is the worst piece of journalism they’ve ever read.

But you keep going.

I’m not leaving this column as a sappy retweet of every other farewell column, but a piece of advice for not only student journalists, but students.

First, remember that it’s OK.

You can make mistakes, you can fall on your face, you can ask a stupid question (yes, I believe there is such a thing as a stupid question), you can forget someone’s name, age or position at the university, but you need to remember those moments and learn from them.

It’s not how you fall; it’s how you pick yourself up. It’s not about remembering the mistake; it’s about correcting it. It’s not about asking the stupid question; it’s about owning it. And it’s not about forgetting someone’s position; it’s about getting it right the rest of the time.

Second, do everything humanly possible.

Whether it’s about studying abroad multiple times, being part of every organization, never getting sleep and single–handedly keeping Red Bull in business, just do it all.

When you’re 70 years old, retiring to some quaint home you’ve dreamt of your entire life and your kids and grand-kids ask you what you did in college,  be able to tell them you did everything you possibly could because now is the time.

Third, remember you have the rest of your life.

Just because you might have had a relationship that didn’t work out, scored a 60 percent on a test or slept through class a few times, it’s not the end of the world. Your life doesn’t stop when you graduate and certainly neither does continual growth. Graduating is only just the beginning.

You’ve got your entire life to find love, make 60 percent commission off of a sale or sleep on vacation, which you paid for yourself. Just because one person told you they didn’t like your story, article or column doesn’t mean you crawl back in your shell. For every person who tells you they didn’t like it, there are 100 people who loved it.

Lastly, be passionate about it and embrace it.

Everything you’ve succeeded in, fallen for or jumped into, just embrace every moment of it because Murray State is worth every moment, and I couldn’t be more proud of myself and the people around me. I am passionate about many things, but the most passionate moment of my time at Murray State has been the solitary second of realization that I made it to the end of the four-year race.
Murray State has been a breeding ground for firsts, lasts, but never a forever. I bid my due and tip my hat as I enter the world of realization.

It’s been real, keep on keepin’ on and whatever other cliché farewell on Urban Dictionary. Just keep on swimming and don’t jump off a bridge just because your friends did.