Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: SO LONG MSU

Mike Hanzelka

It's difficult to think back to my first day at Minnesota State after all these years. When I say "all these years" like some old fart, I mean less than five. That's not a lot, but the stress of working at the Reporter as well as being a student has its way of clouding past memories.

All I can say about my first day in Mankato is this: I was scared shitless.

It's hard enough for me to deal with change in general. That's just how I am. Add to the fact that I knew almost no one and didn't know anything about Mankato, southern Minnesota or (now that I think about it) anywhere south of St. Paul.

I was a huge rube.

But because of the friendships I formed over the years, I slowly fell in love with Mankato and its people. My time at the Reporter allowed me the privilege of getting to know people of all walks of life and seeing what made them do what they do.

Every story that I put some extra time and effort in has it's own interesting story behind it, whether it was driving to St. Paul with Kate Fine to cover a New Orleans benefit concert or being labeled public enemy No. 1 by a low-carb advocate blogger (ask me about it sometime).

Looking back on my first night in Mankato, when I wandered around campus wondering what the hell I was getting myself into, it's almost surreal how much I've grown as a person.

Before I thank the people who helped me grow (and all that other sentimental crap), I want to make one thing clear: it's 4:02 a.m. Thursday. I still have a page to layout and I am getting closer to the hallucination stage of sleep deprivation. Oh yeah, I have a presentation in exactly six hours.

That may sound like a whiny cop-out excuse for writing a less-than-stellar senior Voices piece, but that's not my point. In fact, I feel the opposite way. I am truly going to miss seemingly endless nights like this.

These are the people I spent these endless production days with. These are the people I want to thank the most:

To the editors/D.C. crew this year (Dan, Rachel, Tyler, Derek, Ray and Nia), working with all of you while sharing idea, jokes and the occasional beverage was an honor in the truest sense of the word. As hard as it is for me not to see this paper get better as the next semester progress, I know all of you (well, not so much Dan) will make this paper a model for years to come.

To Marti, Swedien and Doha, getting to know the three of you from the beginning of fall 2006 to New York and beyond was an unforgettable experience. So many great conversations, so many cigarettes consumed.

To the people who taught me what I needed to know (Kate, Tom, Andrew and Tanner), without your red-soaked edit pages, sense of perfection and knowledge of the craft, this paper would not have been where it is today. Your impact on me pales in comparison to your respective influences on our paper.

To Dana and Jane, you two are the life-blood of this paper. If I could start a holiday called "Dana Clark and Jane Tastad Day," I would. But since that probably won't happen, I will still honor your respective roles here by eating a bunch of the candy we have in the office and listening to Megadeth all day.

To all the writers (past and present), no matter what the editors do, it's you guys who represent our paper and what we're about. Thanks for making this a stellar year and keep finding good stories.

To Bronson Pettitt, no one could have picked a better leader to work with. Your work ethic, creativity and openness have taken this paper in the right direction. I'm so glad I got to know you better this semester. Whether it was talking shop down Embassy Row in D.C. or simply our daily meetings. I know I'm a better person having worked with you and learning from your example.

There are also some other people I want to thank. Although none you were affiliated with the Reporter, you all made my time at MSU completely worth it:

To Mom, Dad, Matt and Nate, no matter what circumstance or crises, I can always count your unconditional love and support.

To all my professors from the mass communications and English department, thank you for teaching me so much about the art of effective communication and the beauty of written language.

To Dr. Roisum Foley and Dr. Aloisio, although I never stayed in the music program, I still consider you two my favorite professors I have studied under. I can't think of any instructors who matched the spirit that you two embody everyday.

To Juster, Rollo, Dylan, Jordan, Jason and Domeier, living with guys was (and still is) a trip. That's all I'll say.

To the Govies, keep being box five.

To Jimmy Moore of livinlavidalocarb.com, I'll eat all the damn bananas I want, thank you.

To anyone that I know and love whom I omitted, I give you full permission to nag at me senselessly.

And finally, to any new MSU students reading this, the only kernel of advice I can offer is to simply get involved with something - anything. You have an entire university filled with so many diverse and interesting people. This campus is an intellectual playground that's waiting to be used by anyone willing to hop on.

It's now 5:30 a.m. While typing this, I have been adding some last things to the pages. I keep trying to stall myself from finishing this, but it needs to end sometime.

As much as I have dreaded moving on, I've learned from recent experiences that there's really nothing to dread.


Mike Hanzelka was a Reporter staff writer and editor.

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