Little did I know that I would find my passion so quickly when I came to WSU.

Already deep into my evolution as a full-blown political junkie, I walked into The Daily Evergreen newsroom during my second week in Pullman as a freshman.

I was handed a job, despite having never written a newspaper article in my life.

It was probably the best decision I made in college.

My first article didn't print, which was probably fair considering it only halfway resembled English.

My second story was memorable, for all the wrong reasons. It was titled "Backpacks of Hope" and it was about a philanthropy for Hurricane Katrina. The main picture that day was of a student wearing a backpack and holding a Playboy that he wanted signed by a WSU student who had appeared in the recent Playboy's Girls of the Pac-10 issue.

As a result, if you folded the paper over and read the headline on my article, you got the completely wrong impression.

Four months later I was suddenly writing four articles a week after being handed both the ASWSU beat for the news section and the track and field beat for sports. I became completely obsessed, and nothing has really changed since.

For the past four years – from covering research, the city council and cops and courts to editing the news and sports sections – the Evergreen was an adventure.

I interviewed Rob Corddry and profiled some of the great personalities on our basketball team. I covered an arson trial and the creation of the city's fighting ordinance. And I reported on such important and powerful stories as a three-student obituary, a series on 1079 students and the alleged hate crimes in October.

Despite being frightened as hell about my future job opportunities, WSU provided me a foundation. WSU let me major in political science, which provided me with a full range of knowledge that will help me either with journalism or with whatever else I do with my life.

But most of all, WSU gave me a memorable group of friends and experiences.

Though the group never had more than a few members, WSU Hillel gave me an amazing group of friends from practically the second I came to Pullman.

The thrill and fun of WSU sports, and the great friends I experienced the Apple Cups and the Sweet 16 run with, was unforgettable.

WSU gave me the chance to study abroad, where I spent four amazing months exploring Rome.

WSU exists within walking distance of Sella's and Rico's, which have effectively drained my bank account for the next half decade.

WSU was the perfect school for me, and I'll always be thankful.