Twelve years. 16,380 hours. 2,275 days. That’s time of my life I can never get back, and honestly, I do not want it back. There were moments where I wanted to spend more time with the friends I’ve met.

‘What made me join the paper?’ is a question I’ve asked myself, and it comes down to the freedom of writing, the ability to say whatever I please, like my controversial take that the Lakers are never going to be the comeback team that people once thought of.

I did contribute to the yearbook here and there, giving the students some highlights that happened during the year. I’m glad I was there for all of it, especially when I spent time with the Boneheads during one of the home opening games.

Fun fact, the video, Bonehead Energy, took over two months to produce, just to record the day in the life of being a Bonehead. The video got me an honorable mention award for ILPC by following their life at a football game and a pep rally, that will always be my favorite moment in journalism.

I always tell people, if you put your heart and passion into something, you will get something out of it, and that came out true for me. I recommend for all new journalists joining the paper to follow the same vision I had during my time at the paper.

I will always love my mom and dad, they’ve always been around to support me during my highs and lows, when I’d reach my goals, they would be there. I could never thank them enough for what they have done for me to be here.

I’m glad that I was able to experience my last years of school with my closest-best friend, Wes. I will never forget when we met. I can replay it because our friendship was something that can’t be put in words. Wes was the only person I could be myself around without being judged, he was there for me no matter what, whenever we ate together in the cafeteria, hugged each other in the elevator, or hung out in the elevator.

Now here, I would’ve dedicated a word to my lover, but due to unforeseen circumstances, this part of the document has disappeared out of the blue. Even after multiple tries, I was unable to restore this part. Bummer…

And finally, I wanna say thank you to Pinkham, Hale, Holt, Rojas, Kenna, Pizano, Moreno, Branson, Perkins, Coach Malloy, Stewart, Bolton, Coach Khenglawt, Francis, Daniels, Poastoak, Webb, Kidder, Caterisano, Lee, Fejza, Lingren, Albert, Gafford, Carter, Harris, Langston, Hunt, Coach Adams, Ms. Carter, Bezerra, Castillo, Wallace, Voltrain, Massey, McMaken, Coach West, Miller, Ramsey, Desoto, Taylor, Fletcher, Mrs. Malloy, Mcnellie, Topps, Lindamood, Lares, Salazar, Jekel, Shepard, Madsen and Manriquez for being mentors to me throughout my journey in LISD. 

What do I want to do after I close my Macbook? Live life, visit Stolas and Wes, go to UNT, become a teacher for theatre, or maybe replace Pinkham (for legal reasons, this is a joke) and try to be successful.

I shall also say that I am writing a musical. People might say ‘They don’t have an ounce of writing, who is this guy?’ I am a writer, which is why I also joined the paper.

So as I close my Macbook Air, I wish good luck to everyone who joins the paper and makes the cut on what they create, because I believe that the new writers will shine for years to come.