Editor’s Note: Traditionally, graduating seniors working at The Collegian are given the chance to write a farewell note at the end of their tenure at CSU.

I came to Colorado State University with a plan: Get in, and get out.  

I never wanted to go to college in-state, but here I was. So I mapped out every semester, took as many credits as I could and planned to graduate as early as possible. I wanted to move on and just keep moving.  

Now I’m writing this column 22 days before graduation, and all I want is to stay here.  

I was first introduced to The Collegian when I came to CSU for Journalism Day my senior year of high school and my journalism teacher, Mr. Varca, encouraged me to join. So at the very beginning of my freshman year, I applied to be a staff reporter to make a little extra money and make my resume look good. 

I did not expect this newspaper to become the center of my college experience. I definitely didn’t expect to become an editor, let alone news editor. I never imagined that so many of my Wednesdays would be spent in the Lory Student Center until midnight covering the Associated Students of Colorado State University Senate; that I would be heading down to the Colorado State Capitol for coverage; or that I would be spending Friday nights on the phone with sources in Allie Seibel and Hannah Parcells’ apartment when a story broke. 

But it all happened, and if I could go back in time and do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.  

The Collegian pushed me to do things I never would have done. It forced me out of my comfort zone, taught me to ask hard questions, have difficult conversations and talk to people I would have otherwise been too intimidated to approach. It taught me to listen and to tell stories that really matter. And it taught all my coworkers that I’ll get the job done — I just have to complain about it first.  

This is corny as hell, but in my time at The Collegian, I have met some of the most brilliant, kind and genuinely hilarious people I have ever known. People who challenged me, supported me and have become some of my closest friends.  

I am so lucky to know Allie Seibel, Hannah Parcells and Claire Vogl, and to have had the opportunity to work for and learn from them. I will miss chatting with Willow Engle, Ruby Secrest, Sophie Webb and Cait Mckinzie in the office, and, of course, seeing Michael Hovey show up at Chipotle during many of my shifts.

I would say I will miss Katie Fisher, but I haven’t been able to shake her since high school, and I’m sure that won’t change anytime soon. 

I will miss the newsroom more than I can explain. I will miss getting lunch and chatting with everyone during office hours, pretending to be productive. I will miss the trips to Cam’s Lobby Shop for a Diet Coke and a Celsius, and I will miss getting a “hi from copy!” Slack at 11:30 p.m. on production nights.  

A very, very tiny part of me might even miss sitting in the ASCSU senate chambers, covering whatever they had going on in there.  

A few things I will not miss: coming up with kickers, forgetting to submit visual requests, banning my reporters from interviewing certain professors again and again — sorry, Matthew Hitt — the ping of a Slack notification and getting ghosted by congressmen. 

As I write this and plan for graduation, I can’t help but think of the students in Iran, Palestine and Lebanon who will never get to cross the stage. I have been so privileged to have this opportunity, and I am eternally grateful to The Collegian for allowing me to share my voice and represent my people.

This job is more than just a line on my resume. It has shown me the impact journalism can have, not just as a career but as a way of engaging with the world. It gave me purpose, and it made this campus feel like home, even in the windowless basement of the LSC. 

My time as news editor may have been short, but The Collegian has been a constant through my entire college career. It has been the place where I grew the most, as a writer, as a reporter and as a person. 

I came to CSU so focused on leaving, but thanks to The Collegian, I’m not ready to say goodbye. 

Laila Shekarchian was the spring 2026 news editor for The Rocky Mountain Collegian. She can no longer be reached at news@collegian.com, but she can be reached on Instagram @laila.shekar.