Moving Forward: Ready to write the next chapter

Co-editors%2C+Michelle+Mattich+and+Amberley+Taylor%2C+talk+on+the+radio+station%2C+La+Mexicana%2C+about+the+Hispanic+Heritage+week+and+the+projects+they+worked+on+for+Humanities+Kansas.

Co-editors, Michelle Mattich and Amberley Taylor, talk on the radio station, La Mexicana, about the Hispanic Heritage week and the projects they worked on for Humanities Kansas.

As the saying goes, “Another year, another chapter comes to an end,” and my time at Seward County Community College has officially come to an end. When I reflect on my time here, there are several things that come to mind. The first being at how opposed I was to attending SCCC in the first place.

Originally, I got accepted to a university in New Mexico and I planned to attend there. But with financial aid and money, I soon realized that I could not afford to go to school out of state. My only choice at the time was to attend SCCC.

I haven’t looked back since.

These past two years have been a time of growth for me. I learned a lot from the teachers around me and my peers as well. I also discovered a new field that I am interested in, journalism. Being on the Crusader staff has given me the opportunity to write in a different light.

I have had the opportunity to report on DACA and how it affected students’ lives. I have had the opportunity to work with Humanities Kansas and give a personal account of what it was like to work at National Beef for a summer. I met a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and got to interview her for a story. I reviewed coffee from Reverie Roasters and met the founder.

Sue Sprenkle
SCCC’s Crusader Staff poses with Sonia Nazario for a photo during the V.I.P reception before her presentation. Crusader was the only group of students allowed in the V.I.P room. Going on the trip were Monica Gonzalez, Moscow freshman, Alondra Botello, Satanta freshman, Michelle Mattich, Liberal super sophomore, and Rubi Gallegos, Liberal sophomore.

I wouldn’t have been able to do these things as a freshman and sophomore if I had gone to a university.

As I move on from Seward, I plan to take with me all the things I have learned and seen. I will take funny stories, like going to the Kansas Collegiate Media conference in Wichita and staying at a haunted hotel, with me.

Crusader won best website in the state this year. That was by far the best achievement of the year for us and for me at this college.

It has been a pleasure to work with every single member of Crusader. The stress to meet deadlines and the drive to write good stories and starting important conversations is a rush. We want to get the story out, and do it correctly and timely.

I learned the pleasure of writing stories that humanize the people around us and it is a powerful thing. The stories I wrote aren’t only mine but of the people I write them about, their accomplishments and life story. Their struggles need to be heard and I am the messenger.

SCCC was a time of learning and growth for me, I can only hope that other students take advantage of the wonderful opportunities it has to offer. I know more about myself and the world around me because of it.

I honestly don’t know what the future holds, it’s a blank page. I plan on attending Wichita State University and I want to write in way that sparks change in the world around me. I can’t wait to start filling in the next chapter of life.