Stumbling into a house party on my first night of freshman year, I met Kiley O’Donnell, former editor in chief of The Bona Venture.
“Write for the BV!” she said.
I showed up to the interest meeting a few days later and signed up for a men’s soccer recap.
Over 50 stories and thousands of words later, this is the last time I’ll write as an editor for the sports page.
While this may not seem like a tough goodbye to you, it is. I’ve invested countless hours into the sports page this year, often times staying up late into the wee hours of Thursday morning, especially this semester.
Before coming back for the spring semester, I set a lot of goals for my page. Some goals came to fruition, others didn’t. To be honest, not a lot went according to plan this semester. And a big reason for that is the amount of work I had to take on.
No editor, at any paper, should have to write nearly every story each week. That was oftentimes the case with me. On an early-week day, I could be seen running around the Reilly Center for interviews, typing away in the library, spending more time in Reilly Center room five than my own dorm room, all while trying to keep up with my studies and maintaining a social life with my friends. To say this semester took a toll on me would be putting in lightly.
There were times I wanted to give up. Quit. Screw it all. But I didn’t. Letting my colleagues down was the last thing I wanted to do. A paper had to be delivered Friday, and I did whatever it took to get my page to look decent. Regardless of how disappointed I got with my page at times this semester, I’m walking away proud nonetheless.
And now, a few thank you’s.
First, and most importantly, thank you to my unbelievable, hardworking and passionate professors (and dean) at the Jandoli School of Communication. Last year, I was a wide-eyed freshman that probably couldn’t write a proper sentence. My improvement and passion as a journalist is because of professors like Denny Wilkins, Anne Lee, Carole McNall and Aaron Chimbel, our outstanding dean.
Thank you to the athletes and coaches I’ve interviewed this year. I cherish the relationships and connections I’ve been able to make with St. Bonaventure coaches and athletes, and I can’t wait to make more in the future.
Also, thank you to the entire athletics communications staff. Almost every week during the semester, I was sending an email to at least one of you. Thanks for setting up interviews in a timely manner, sending me story ideas to look into and watching out for my page. Some sports got more attention than others, but I tried my best to be fair every week.
No matter how good or bad my work may have been, I’d like to thank all of my readers. From friends, professors and strangers, I appreciate anyone that took the time to grab a copy of the BV on a Friday morning, flip to page seven and eight and read a story of mine.
And what would the BV be like without making lifelong friends? If you’re going to spend 11 Wednesdays a semester in Reilly Center room five until 3 a.m., you might as well build good relationships with the people you’re going to spend those late nights with. The friends I’ve made at the BV so far have been nothing short of amazing. Thank you to the staffers this semester that were there to support me when my oh-so-infamous toilet paper story riled up some folks upstairs. And congratulations to our seniors Dom LoVallo, Kelly Haberstroh and Ryan Signorino.
Lastly, shoutout to my wonderful family for the endless support. Less than two years ago, my parents sent triplets off to college – all at once. Thank you, mom and dad, for not only supporting me through my journey at St. Bonaventure so far, but for inspiring me to take pride in my work, challenging me to get better and providing me with opportunities to chase my dreams.
And most difficult for me, thank you, grandpa. My grandfather unexpectedly passed away in February, shortly after my birthday. He was without a doubt my biggest fan. He’d always be the first one to compliment my work on Facebook, and he’d always call me to check in on what my next story was. I know you’re still reading above and thinking about my next story.
This semester has been challenging in many aspects, but it has taught me things and brought me to places that I never imagined a year ago.
I don’t know what the next set of challenges may be as I continue to chase my lifelong dream of becoming a sports journalist, but as I did all 11 weeks this semester, I’ll tackle those, too.
By Mike Hogan, Sports Editor
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
