I reflect on my last four years here in Binghamton with mixed emotions. Sure, I have some regrets, particularly from stupid decisions I made during my first couple of semesters, but there is a lot more I have to smile about and be grateful for. The lessons I’ve learned about responsibility and myself make all those dumb decisions worth it when all is said and done.

I truly believe I am coming out of Binghamton a better and much more responsible person than I was when I entered it.

Looking back, I was pretty unprepared for college when I first entered as a 17-year-old freshman. The last two-and-a-half years of high school were greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, so I developed some bad habits during that time that carried over into college. I was terrible at keeping track of due dates for assignments and exams, and was almost never prepared for class. On top of that, it was my first time living on my own and my attendance quickly began to wane with no one to push me to go to class.

I was able to get away with this in my first semester, but the habits only got worse by the spring. Things quickly spiraled out of control, and my grades plummeted as a result.

As my grades suffered, so did my mental health and by the end of my third semester, I was not in a good headspace. I wound up going back home the following semester, attending a college nearby as I focused on getting my grades and mental health back on track. During this time, I began to put in much more effort toward my school work, while also interning at a nearby nonprofit. Doing these activities helped to get me back in the right headspace and I returned to Binghamton University the following semester.

While I was definitely headed on the right track, I was still not putting in the work I should have been that first semester back. It felt like I was still lazy at my roots, handing in assignments late and barely doing what was necessary to pass. Sure, my grades improved, but I still could’ve been much better if I had actually been putting in the effort. That’s when I found Pipe Dream, and something finally switched.

Up to that point, I had never participated in any extracurricular activities. My life had solely been class and spending time with friends, with a lot of downtime between, which, again, wasn’t great for my mental health. I wanted something more to do during my time here, and Pipe Dream’s Sports section seemed like the perfect fit. It combined my love of writing with my interest in sports and gave me new responsibilities to occupy my time.

The first semester I joined Pipe Dream, my grades immediately began to rise, and I made the Dean’s List for the first time as soon as I joined. I felt like I had another purpose besides just wading my way through classes and waiting until my friends could hang out. Attending games I had an interest in, conducting interviews with coaches and players afterward and writing about it all had given me a new spark.

In joining Pipe Dream, I had also learned more about responsibility and workload management. In having multiple games to watch, interviews to conduct, articles to write and later edit in a single week, I learned much more about how to properly plan out my time and not wait until the last minute to do everything at once. Without this newspaper, I would probably still be barely skating by and in a much unhappier place.

Of course, I wish I were more prepared for college when I first came here. My GPA will never be something I can brag about, and I have given myself a lot more unnecessary problems in my time at college because of the mistakes I made when I was younger. But I’m proud of the work I’ve put in to come back from it all, and the person I’ve become as a result. I’ve learned much more about myself than I thought possible as a freshman, and I’m all the happier for it.

Graduation is now right around the corner, and while that’s definitely a scary thought, I know I’ll be ready for whatever life throws at me once I’m out there. The toughest time of my life happened while I was here, and I came out a better person as a result. Everything that I’ve learned during my time at BU is only going to continue to help me grow well beyond graduation, and now I’m just excited to see what my future holds.

Hunter Malloy, a senior majoring in English, is Pipe Dream’s assistant sports editor.