Year One
I started my time at Illinois Institute of Technology in August 2019 as an architecture student. It was, frankly, a lot to handle. I had only ever spent short amounts of time in big cities, either day trips or vacations. I grew up in the suburbs outside of Seattle, WA before moving to Charleston, SC for high school, so dealing with the sprawl and bustle of Chicago was rather difficult. I adapted quickly, but not easily, I would say. I got the hang of the CTA within a month, since the Seattle area had a great public transit system that I grew up using. However, actually dealing with navigating the city took some time because Chicago is just so big.
I was also lucky to have a fantastic roommate in freshman year (who is still my roommate to this day). We would literally sit for hours and yap and yap. She became a lifelong friend, and I don’t know where I would be without her.
Academically, I was fine. I wasn’t enjoying my classes, but I did well in them. I enjoyed some things, but it became apparent that architecture was not for me. Aside from not really enjoying the classes, most of the people in my year in the program were just… not fun to be around. I was ostracized by many of my peers to the point where I would sometimes get dirty looks when I would try and compliment their work. To this day, I don’t understand why I was treated like that. I spent my time minding my business but would go out of my way to help folks, at least until I realized people didn’t like me.
Of course, in spring of 2020, we went remote due to COVID-19. Without my roommate and without being able to actually see my friends at home, it was very lonely. I found solace in working on TechNews, still. I attended the weekly meetings on Zoom and kept up my job as Layout Editor.
Year Two
My second year at Illinois Tech was, in many ways, a lot better than my first year. Aside from the obvious despair of COVID-19, I was thriving in my classes. I had switched to psychology from architecture over the summer, and I never looked back. I was consistently doing well in my classes and enjoying them. It took very little time for me to realize I was finally in the right place. It made the isolation of COVID-19 easier to bear. Though, it was odd to be in class with people and not meet them in person. Many of my peers from my first year in psychology are people I still have never met in person.
I also found the courage to start writing for TechNews in my second year, and I started with a bunch of reviews. I reviewed music, Windows 11, and TV shows, with a few serious news pieces mixed in. I had finally found my voice.
In the later part of the school year, once my friends and I were vaccinated, we would meet in-person at each other’s homes and hang out. It was amazing to finally be reunited again after so long and we would spend hours playing video games together and just talking about nonsense.
Other than that, I spent a lot of lockdown outside, walking around and exploring Charleston’s beautiful waterfronts. When I was vaxxed and masked, I would go to restaurants and eat outside, too. For all of Charleston’s many flaws, at least it’s basically always warm, sunny, and full of outdoor seating. I don’t think I would’ve survived if I had to be homebound.
Year Three
When Illinois Tech eventually announced that we would be going back to on-campus instruction for the 2021-2022 school year, my previous roommate and I quickly decided to room together again. We got an apartment-style room in Rowe Village (though it will always be State Street Village to me) and lived directly under some of our other friends. We would spend the weekends drinking together and watching trashy shows and movies together.
Academically, the first semester of my third year was… pretty bad. I was in 17 credit hours, in a computer science minor that I hated, and I was exhausted. I got Cs in two classes and nearly failed another, so I switched from a computer science minor to statistics and reduced my course load for the next semester. Surprise, surprise! I excelled when I was doing things I liked and not overexerted.
Over the summer, I took several classes online while staying with my family in Charleston then I moved back to Chicago in the middle of the summer to live in an apartment with my old roommate and one of our other friends. It was the first time I was in Chicago over any summer months, and I was delighted at the weather. It was difficult, though, to adapt to being away from my parents even over the break. Having an apartment together, my roommates and I felt like fish out of water, like we were finally adults.
Year Four
This is the year where things started coming together for me, I think. I had my first two internships during the fall and spring semesters of this school year, I started my graduate classes and officially started my statistics minor. I was finally feeling settled in school, finding friends and professors to really lean on. I also found an unlikely interest in linguistics. I took a class on the history of the English language and found myself surprisingly riveted by the content. Since then, I have been getting books on origins of words and interesting history of language. My academics were going well overall, and I made Dean’s List in both semesters.
This is also the first year I was on the Editorial Board of TechNews. I was one of three assistant editors-in-chief, as it was difficult to find enough people to fill the roles in the wake of COVID-19. It was difficult and a lot more time-consuming than I had anticipated, but we made it through.
When I wasn’t in class, my roommates and I were eating plenty of struggle meals, drinking cheap wine, and playing Mario Kart together. The apartment itself was nasty, and the people who lived below us were rude and, frankly, nasty. They were hoarders who took up so much space in our shared garage that we struggled getting in and out of the car. When they moved out, all the mice that had been nesting in their apartment came up to ours. We spent months dealing with mice. To this day, I still flinch when I hear something even slightly off when I’m lying in bed trying to sleep.
On the bright side, my family moved to Chicago from Charleston in January of 2023. It was a blessing to be so close to them again and to be able to see them whenever I wanted to. And one of my roommate’s brother also moved to Chicago for college, too. It’s been so fun having him over and for our families to mingle together.
Year Five
It was at the beginning of this school year that my roommates and I moved into my parent’s house, I finished my statistics minor, and I started my graduate classes in earnest. It was also this school year that I finally cultivated a new group of close friends, solidified my research interests, and went to my first professional conference. I was having fun in my classes, and my friends and I would go out to get tacos after our evening class together. It was nice!
I excelled in my classes, making Dean’s List again for both semesters. I can’t describe just how amazing it feels to know you are in the right place. To know that you have found your calling in life.
I also got to watch my roommates graduate during this year. The pride and joy I felt watching them walk across that stage at the ceremony is something I don’t think can be replicated.
Year Six
The final year of my co-terminal degree program here at Illinois Tech. At first, I thought it was the beginning of the end, but I quickly decided that I would be coming back for my PhD. So, after all these years, it feels like I am just beginning again.
I only had two undergraduate classes left to take, allowing me to focus more on my research interests. I wrote a (frankly, amazing) research proposal to set down the foundation of my thesis project, planned what I want to do for my PhD with my research advisor, and dipped my toes in being a Teaching Assistant.
Academics are, again, going swimmingly. Unless something crazy happens, I am on track to graduate with a 4.0 GPA for my master’s degree.
This is also, however, my last year with TechNews. It’s bittersweet. TechNews has been a constant in my life for six years, nearly a quarter of my entire life. Three of those six years have been spent in leadership positions with the organization. Letting it go is difficult. Still, I know TechNews will be in good hands when I step away.
Even now, as I write this with just two weeks left in the semester, it feels surreal that I am stepping away. My brain is still struggling to adapt. I’ll likely come back as an occasional writer, but I need to focus on work and research when I start my PhD in the fall. I am so incredibly grateful for my time in TechNews and for everyone who helped me at some point along the way.
While my chapter with TechNews is coming to an end, this is not the last you will see of me. I’ll be back for my PhD, and I plan to teach here while I work on my degree.
Honestly, there’s so much more I could talk about from my time here at Illinois Tech, so far. So many stories to share and so much advice to give. However, if I kept writing, we would need a book, not a single issue of a newspaper.
So, I will finish with this.
Thank you, readers, for your support. Thank you to all the staff members over the years that helped us out. Rachel, Kaelen, Patrick, Jackie, Sarah, Jenny, Anri, and so many more. Thank you to Lexi and Quinn for welcoming me when I first joined TechNews. Thank you to Dan and Kevin who helped me become a leader in the organization. Thank you to Angela, Sri Hari, and Nova for helping me run TechNews these past three years. Thank you to my professors and my advisors for helping me grow academically. Thank you to all my friends and family for keeping me sane and loving me.
These past six years have been a wild ride with highs, lows, and periods of mediocrity. So much has happened, and I know there is so much more to come in the future.