The end of an academic year brings exciting changes. However, as doors open for graduates and transferring students, others must close. In the case of writers at M-Times, and myself, many are moving on to their career or different institutions, making this their goodbye to the paper. However, we know they will do great things and we will miss them all dearly.

Makenzie Schroeder

Editor-in-Chief (for the final time)

Ryan Lanxton’s Goodbye

When I came to UM-Flint four years ago after graduating from high school, I wasn’t sure exactly where my educational path would take me. Even more uncertain was my career path and what my future would look like.

It can be intimidating for a kid to come to a campus that is wildly different from what he has ever known. Getting involved in an organization or group wasn’t something I was looking at as I just wanted to keep my head down and graduate on time.

My senior year I wanted to change that, and working for The Michigan Times allowed me to do so.

The very nature of our job has us running around campus and Flint to find that story we think the reader will want to see. Over the course of the year I worked here, I’ve met more people and made more friends than my first three years combined.

Working for a newspaper opens your eyes to the world around you and I’ve probably learned almost as much about this great community than any textbook could teach me. 

It’s going to be tough to leave but at the same time I’m glad for the experiences I’ve had and I’m looking forward to what life will bring me in the near future. Writing for M-Times allowed me to grow and has prepared me for that future.

I wanted to make sure I thanked everyone who was involved in this process as you’ve impacted my life in a positive way each.

To everyone I’ve interviewed and those who have helped me with any important information for our stories and learning from their own experiences.

To everyone on Student Government, whom I covered over this last semester and the fountain of stories I and the rest of the M-Times staff have used. 

To everyone I have worked with, who I am proud to say have not only been great coworkers but have become some of my closest friends. I especially want to thank my managing editor, Santiago Ochoa, and editor-in-chief, Makenzie Schroeder. 

And to all our readers, who without them this whole effort would be pointless. 

I know when I move on in life and look back at how the college experience was for me, this will definitely be one of the greatest highlights. Thanks again, everyone. 

Bella Biafore’s Goodbye

Dear reader,

When I first started attending UM-Flint two years ago, I was feeling profoundly alone. I was depressed, had no sense of who I really was and it felt like I was stuck in the same place while everyone around me moved forward.

I was very closed off during this time in my life and honestly, the idea of opening up to people made me uncomfortable.  

It wasn’t until I started working at The Michigan Times that I realized my love for writing might get me through whatever it was I was feeling. 

Luckily, it has done more for me than that.

Working at M-Times has forced me to open up more and embrace letting people in–something that had originally scared me a lot. 

My fellow writers (and now dear friends) have made me laugh, let me cry, listened to all my crazy stories and have given me the opportunity to share other people’s stories, too.

Being able to connect with people I have never met before and creating bonds with my quote, unquote coworkers has made me feel more like myself than I ever have.  

M-Times has given me the confidence I needed to become a better writer and in return, it has made me a better person.

I feel humbled to have worked with some of the most genuine and dedicated writers I’ve ever met and it’s hard to imagine a future where I don’t get to work with them everyday.

While my time here has been seemingly brief, I now carry with me the knowledge I need to move forward.

It is hard to say goodbye to a place I now call home, but as the saying goes: home is where the heart is.

And trust me, UM-Flint is where my heart will always stay.

Gracie Warda’s Goodbye

Dear audience,

I’ve been working for The Michigan Times for about three months. Now, you might not think that those three months could have much of an impact on me, but that notion is simply false. Despite being here for such a short amount of time, The Michigan Times has left a lasting impact on both me as a person and my career.

The Michigan Times was the very first professional newspaper to pay me to write for them. As someone who plans on working for a lot of newspapers in their lifetime, this is a huge milestone. I even kept the pay stub and put it in my scrapbook. I’ve worked for a few papers already, but none of my positions on any of those staffs were paid. It may seem silly, but I’ve dreamed of being a professional journalist for four years, and I was able to achieve this dream on my first day in The Michigan Times newsroom. 

This may be shocking, and it was shocking for me, too, but my experience with the paper has helped me strengthen my journalism skills immensely. Which is crazy—how much can I really learn about journalism in three months? The answer was way more than I expected. I’ve learned to work on tighter deadlines, be more open with interviewing, and even picked up a couple of AP style rules that I had never dealt with before. More than that, I learned new ideas about journalism from my fellow staffers. 

I also learned a lot about leadership. Not to sound like a suck up to my editors (who are certainly reading this piece), but I am amazed by the leaders at The Michigan Times. I always feel valued and respected, no matter what the situation may be, and I can’t say that about every place I’ve worked. The editors here have shown me how to be a better leader, and I hope to emulate some of their ideas in my future leadership positions.

You may or may not know that I am a dual-enrolled student at UM-Flint, and I will be graduating from Fenton High School in the next couple of months. Come September, I will be attending Emerson College in Boston to further my journalism career, which is why I am sad to say that I’ll no longer be employed at The Michigan Times. While I won’t be working at this publication anymore, I will carry the lessons I’ve learned to Boston and throughout my career. 

Sincerely, 

Gracie Warda