By Anna Harris

Walking down the red-carpeted stairs of the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, I have gone to my final class of my senior year at High Point University. All that’s left is to press submit on a few assignments on Blackboard, attend the week’s senior activities and finally walk across the graduation stage.

To sum up my last four years at HPU in just a few words is an impossible task. I have met my best friends, discovered my passions and am leaving here feeling more fulfilled than when I entered the university back in the fall of 2018.

When most people ask me what I’m going to miss the most about HPU, ideas bounce around in my head like ping-pong balls. Sorority date parties, the security guards that wave you in as you return back to campus or the hot, chocolate chip cookies at the Café.

Although the chocolate chip cookies are a close second, one thing keeps coming back in my head.

The School of Communication.

It’s not just a building, it’s a second home.

How cheesy is that? Yes, I am going to miss my major’s building for crying out loud. No, not necessarily the gorgeous exterior or classy interior, but the memories I’ve made and the people I’ve met inside these four walls.

When I enter the School of Com, I feel like I belong. I love seeing someone I know at every corner I turn (most of the time). I love visiting my professors just to chat in their offices, whether it be about a recent assignment or another quarter-life crisis I’m going through. I love going into the studio multiple times a week to anchor, produce or work crew for one of the many student-run shows I’ve been involved in.

The School of Communication is home to late hours spent on the second floor tables, mainly the one to the left of the staircase, working on assignments. It is home to gossiping with friends on the comfy gold couches of the first floor in between classes. It is home to talking about anything and everything in the podcast studio on the third floor recording a weekly podcast.

I have shed many tears in this building. Whether it be because my work was lost due to hard drive failure (we’ve all been there) or because I am stressed out of my mind trying to take out the “um’s” and “uh’s” of my most recent audio assignment, this place has seen me at my worst.

Although not every day has been sunshine and rainbows, this place has ultimately seen me at my best.

Three years ago, I came to HPU All Access, the student-run news show, for one of the first times to work camera. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the show needed a main anchor mid-show. In my true “let’s fix the problem” fashion, I decided to step up and fill the spot.

Little did I know that that one last minute fill-in would completely change my life.

I spent the rest of my college career co-anchoring for HPU All Access every other week and even had the opportunity to co-anchor the morning show, All Access Morning. On top of this, I was talent for the 2020 Election Night Special, produced many packages outside the show and even interviewed our university president, Nido Qubein, for the homecoming broadcast.

Getting involved with this show and within the School of Com made me realize my true passions: anything and everything in the newsroom.

I have developed a strong passion for spreading the truth and being a reliable resource for anyone inside and outside of journalism. I will continue this passion for many years to come as I start my career in news as a Multimedia Journalist for WCSC-TV Live 5 News in Charleston, South Carolina after I graduate.

I am not writing this post to brag about my achievements, but to let you know that your choice to be involved at HPU will make your four years worthwhile.

When I was approached by Dr. Bobby Hayes and Professor Ken Medlin about wanting to head Q News Network this spring, I had zero hesitation. I wanted to kickstart this publication to be the best it could be and to showcase the School of Com in the best light.

Most second semester seniors would not take this opportunity. It was a lot of hours in and outside the classroom writing, editing, drafting, scheduling, posting and posting again. Although it made me want to pull my hair out sometimes, I am so happy that my senioritis did not get the best of me when I took this job.

Q News Network is just a website to most people, but it is essentially “my baby.” I spent time every week producing the weekly broadcast, posting to social media and drafting outside submissions to the website. Starting this website from the ground up was not an easy task and I send my greatest gratitude to Dr. Hayes, Professor Medlin and all my peers in the Q News Network class for not only being supporters, but friends throughout the process.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to read our posts, follow us on social media and watch the shows on YouTube. The feedback we have received has been better than I could have ever imagined and I can’t wait to see how this publication moves forward in the coming years.

This experience with Q News Network has been so fulfilling and to those that have been published, I can’t wait to watch you soar.

To the School of Com, I’m going to miss you, your memories and your people. I have loved every good, bad and ugly moment in this building and being a part of the Journalism department. I don’t think I could have learned the power of storytelling, importance of staying authentic as a journalist and the dangerous use of the oxford comma anywhere else.

And to the com majors that are still here, don’t take any of this for granted.

You never know when you will walk down the red-carpeted stairs for one last time.

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Anna Harris is a senior at High Point University majoring in Journalism with a double minor in Criminal Justice and Strategic Communication. For contact inquiries, please email aharris6@highpoint.edu.