I swore I wouldn't make it to the end. There was a four-story quota, quizzes, weekly class attendance and a final exam in order to make it through the semester-long candidate program here at The Daily Collegian.

Not only that, I tried out for the Collegian, like many of my fellow staff members, my first semester of my freshman year. It wasn't easy trying to adjust to this college scene with new faces and classes.

And the biggest thing that stood in my way was the fact that I was shy.

But I made it through that semester because of some saving graces: a love for writing, my faith, phone calls and letters from my parents, my roommate, who was my friend since seventh grade, a helpful news adviser, and my fellow Collegianeers in my candidate class (who were also going through the same thing).

The following semester, it became a little easier. I was writing for the diversity beat, where there were plenty of groups with stories to tell.

After that semester, I stayed on the diversity beat. In the semesters to follow I jumped from copy editing to beat reporting to beat editing and back to reporting.

A lot of my college career, like many who work in this newsroom, was devoted to the Collegian.

Whenever I found myself starting to stress about deadlines and class assignments, there were things that kept me going, such as seeing my articles in the paper, helping a reporter and seeing their face light up with pride for their work and witnessing the excitement in the office when a story broke out.

And those were stories that had to be told.

Those are the things that move me. And I hope you have found that something that moves you because it's the greatest feeling in the world.

I heard that journalists often become cynical because once you cover one meeting or trial, you've covered them all, supposedly.

Well, I've never thought of myself as a cynic and I hope that never happens to me.

Because knowing I have the power to tell stories that will keep those in authority on their toes or can help make a change excites me.

And here I am four years later as a features reporter doing what I love -- telling stories -- at one of the finest independent student newspapers in the country.

This past summer I did a decided to switch it up and worked at two news radio stations in Washington, DC.

I was a foreigner to broadcast news, but my experience at the Collegian kept me going.

During the internship, I developed an interest in broadcast journalism, improved my writing and reporting and fell in love with DC.

These experiences have prepared me for any situation I might come across.

I'm ready to graduate. In fact, the way the news is progressing with multimedia, I'm itching to get out.

Of course, it'll be hard to leave Penn State behind.

I won't forget my times at the Collegian, the bus rides to the office where I met my treasured friend and future roommate and long walks home from the office after a night of copy editing with my Irish pal.

Nor will I forget Friday afternoons at Café 210 West, last summer in DC, my first date and the ones that followed at the Corner Room and those sunny days in Happy Valley that make me want to throw on some flip flops and grab a cone at The Creamery.

But time's almost up and I'm ready to go.

That big world out there looks so exciting that I can't wait to jump in.

And those stories, I can't wait to tell them.