This is Peter Planamente … Signing off

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I cannot believe that my time at Rowan is coming to an end. It feels like yesterday when I got dropped off on a freezing January day for my orientation and sat through hours and hours of lectures from the administrators at Rowan. I think I was almost stuck to the chair for how long I sat in that theater. 

When I stepped foot onto Rowan’s campus, I felt like I was starting a whole new life. Everything was huge, buildings everywhere and cars ready to hit me at every intersection. Even to this day, I still do not know where most of the buildings are, as we journalism majors are practically glued to High Street and Rowan Boulevard. 

I really believe that Rowan matured me even more after high school; I studied harder, I managed my time better, but believe me, I still procrastinated every chance I could. Some days I really needed to take a mental break and put the papers aside. 

Even though I was only at Rowan for two years, I feel I accomplished a lot. I began helping out at The Whit, hosting “The Week in Review” for two semesters and being a staff writer for over a year. I also helped with South Jersey Climate News, a project by the journalism department that reports on the effects of climate change around Atlantic City. My last semester, I worked for The Rowan Blog as a digital content contributor. 

I have a lot of people to owe a thank you to. First, my dad and my family for always being supportive through my journey. I swear, this man got worked up way more than I ever did whenever I had a big assignment due. I would be asked every five seconds if my interviewees had responded back. It’s okay, Dad, I still passed!

Thank you to the awesome professors I had over these past two years. Special shout-outs go to Professor Diulio for allowing me to make a fool of myself for his video assignments. Professor Kelley, you are awesome, but Media Law was torture. I felt like curling up into a fetal position and crying every time I walked into that class.

Tim Hawk, no matter how good my pictures turn out, they will always be shitty, as I said to you often. To Dianne Garyantes, Mark Berkey-Gerard (M.B.G.), Emil Steiner, Deborah Woodell, Kathryn Quigley (“Quigs”) and Carl Hausman, you each helped me grow in the journalism field and pushed me to new heights. I will be forever thankful and appreciative of that. I also cannot forget Evelyn Rivera, who always gave me a chuckle whenever I had to rent a camera from the journalism office.

Thank you to Cristin Farney, Jennifer Green and Christina Lynn for giving me the opportunity to contribute to The Rowan Blog. You are the most awesome people to work for and I would do it all over again if I could. 

Thank you to the many people I had to bug for interviews. I want to personally thank Seta, who allowed me to profile Yogo Factory, and Jen from Alumni Grill for letting me hang for two days and take over 100 pictures. Everyone on Rowan Boulevard was super nice and they are always willing to help you out.  

Finally, a big thank you goes out to all of the people I became friends with while at Rowan. From The Whit and Rowan Blog to my classmates, you made every day enjoyable and I hope I did the same for you.

To be honest, I felt like a guidance counselor listening to everyone’s problems before and after my classes, listening to who got drunk over the weekend, who broke up with their boyfriend, who got left alone in Glassboro at 3 a.m. I could write a whole story just on that, but I digress. 

It is crazy for me to think that in just a few short weeks, I will be getting my degree in journalism and leaving college. While I am sad that this chapter is ending and anxious for what is ahead in the future, I know I will have the support of my family and friends who will follow me on whatever journey I choose.

One thing is for sure, though: I will continue being the coffee addict, weather loving goofball that will answer your texts at 3 a.m. when there is a tornado warning. 

And just like I ended every one of my “Week in Review” videos for The Whit, I will do the same for this … “that’ll do it for this week’s edition.”

For comments/questions about this story, email editor@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.

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