Left to right: Dani and Mandy Erfourth. “Dani is more than a second cousin to me, she’s like a sister.” | Photo courtesy of Mandy Erfourth
Unlike my fellow graduates I have only been here for two years. Along the way I have met many people that I will never forget and I just want to take some time to remember these friends.
Amanda Beaulieu and I started here together. We went to orientation together and I still remember being so excited about all the possibilities that UT held. Like when I was introduced to the editor-in-chief and assistant editor-in-chief of The Minaret. It was nice to have a friend to enter the new scary world with. Thank you, Amanda for starting this journey with me and I hope your next two years are great. No matter how busy we’ve been, our friendship has remained intact and I hope it remains that way.
It was nice to have one friend when I started here, but I have made many more along the way, like Alex Vera. I still remember the first day I met you. It was fall semester of my junior year and I walked into the office and you treated me like I was one of the gang. We then had a class together spring semester and that’s where we really became friends. You are one of the people I will remember for years to come and I hope we continue to be friends.
The beginning of this year, I became the editor for arts and entertainment. I still remember the first night. I had no idea what I was doing but I was ready to learn. Josh Napier was also there that night, starting as the assistant news editor and I remember how awkward it was between us with the elephant in the room. I decided to let my guard down and get to know you, and I’m glad I did. We have become such good friends. We will always have Hollywood when I was locked in the bathroom and you rescued me. If you hadn’t come back, I could have been locked in there all day. So thank you, and remember, forgetfulness is not always a bad thing.
Many other good friends have been made like Daniel Feingold. I still remember when I met you spring semester of last year. My name had been put on your article by accident. I remember you telling me this, and that is how we got introduced. You were as jumpy and neurotic as you are today. What I didn’t know then was, what good friends we were going to become. This semester we have been constantly in the office together. You were always distracting me from my work with Youtube videos, which could tend to get annoying, but you always made me laugh. I hope that just because I am graduating that we wont lose touch, since you do live the closest to me, out of all my friends.
Another new friend I made just this year is Moriah Parrish. I still remember the first day you entered the office. You were not quite sure what you were getting yourself into. And now you have found a whole new family. I was glad we were able to get to know each other a little in Hollywood. We see each other every Tuesday night, but I’m always too busy with my section, while you’re busy with copyediting for us to even get to talk. I want to thank you for all your great restaurant reviews and always getting them in on time. You’ve seen first hand what can happen when articles are not in on time. Whatever position you take on next year, I know you’re going to be great at it.
Moriah is not the only one of my writers that I have become friends with. Rich Solomon is another. We started to become friends before you even started writing reviews for me. I still remember me frantically trying to edit a fiction story and you were in the office and helped me come up with ideas to make it better. You call yourself an a——. But what you really are is a good friend. I find it amazing how you can go from immature boy to intellectual adult in two seconds flat.
Photo courtesy of Mandy Erfourth
Cara Fetzer, what can I say? This year has gone by so fast. We didn’t get much of a chance to hang out, because we were both so busy, but we did manage to get our Gossip Girl talks in. I wish you the best of luck, wherever you go.
Zoe LeCain, I wish we had more time together. The senior party was just not enough. We need to go out some time. Maybe you will prove me wrong, that I can have fun in clubs other than in England. I think you are the girl for the job. I can’t believe we are almost done. Neither one of us knows what is next, but I know wherever we go, we will always be friends.
Abby Sanford, we never really got to know each other that well. Tuesday nights were always so crazy we never got to talk about much more than photography. But you always came through with the pictures and I would never have been able to do my section without you; so, thank you. We did get to have some fun together in Phoenix and Hollywood though. I’m glad we got what little time together that we did.
Laura Theobald, I want to thank you for all those articles you edited late on Tuesday nights. I know some of them weren’t the easiest to read, but you did. How you could read all those articles with the chaos and noise going on around you I will never know.
Mikey Rumore, thank you for all your help with the arts and entertainment section. If it wasn’t for The Minaret, we might not have seen each other at all this semester. Good luck next year as Editor-in-Chief of Quilt. Wish I could be around to watch Quilt grow, but I guess I will have to just settle with you telling me about it.
Mike Trobiano, you passed the arts and entertainment section down to me and I am very grateful for that. I will always remember the last two years working with you. I don’t think I will ever know how we managed these late nights. Good luck next year, when you take over the editor-in-chief position. I know you’ll do great.
Dan Reimold, I loved reminiscing about the TV shows that we grew up with. Being older than most of the students was hard some of the time, but you made it easier, because I always new I could rely on you not making me feel so old.
I want to thank Gina Lineberger and Erica Dawson in helping through this senior year. This was the hardest year of my life, and if it wasn’t for the support and encouragement of you both, I would never have been able to get through it.
My time here at The Minaret and UT is over, but I will never forget the friends I have made here and everything I have learned along the way.
Mandy Erfourth can be reached at mandy.tt.carr@gmail.com.
Loading ...
