Farewell Column: Starting a legacy

I am not a writer, nor have I ever been for The Daily Tar Heel.

The immense anxiety that rushes over me whenever our Editor-in-Chief Emmy Martin asks me to write a short blurb for a photo story is a feeling I don’t enjoy or strive for. 

But, this story is different. This one makes me excited and as my eyes burn as tears start to form, I realize how hard this chapter will be to let go of. 

As a member of the COVID-19 class of 2024, I felt at a disadvantage on the friend and extracurricular scene after my first year. By no means was I friendless, as I had the privilege of having close to 40 people from high school on this campus (a blessing in disguise, but that is another story), and a handful of friends I was able to make through Zoom. 

My solution to this disadvantage appeared to me as I scrolled through social media and saw a post that said something along the lines of “now accepting applications.” I will be honest — I had no clue what The DTH was outside of that Instagram account which helped me stay connected to campus even when I wasn’t physically there. 

So, I did it. I applied. I have always been passionate about photography, and self-conscious about it too. I refused to show people my photos or even mention that I enjoyed it or even cared about it. I remember looking at the application that requested three photos of mine and freaking out over which ones I should pick. 

The glorious part of the newsroom that many don’t appreciate is that The DTH is a teaching newspaper. We welcome “newbies," and we thrive on growing together. Unlike most of my DTH peers, I am not in the so called “J-school," nor have I ever taken a class in photography.

The DTH became my classroom, and the amount that my talent has evolved over my past three years at The DTH is noticeable, especially comparing the first men’s basketball game I ever shot versus the last — both against N.C. State University, funnily enough.  

My love for sports photography truly started when shooting the women’s basketball team during the 2022-23 season. I loved how the personality of the players would shine through the photos and was so excited when I got the shot.

Luckily for me, Courtney Mitchell took a chance on me and sent me to Columbus, Ohio to shoot UNC’s run in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball national championship. The fun that I had with now-Assistant Sports Editor Daniel Wei and now-Sports Editor Shelby Swanson is what got me to this point today. 

In many conversations with Shelby, Daniel and the then co-Photo Editors Kennedy Cox and Samantha Lewis, we discussed how there was a lack of cohesiveness between the Sports desk and the Photo desk. As more conversations were had, it was decided that a position should be created as a liaison between the two desks. 

And, if you didn’t know, that’s my job!

Starting as an assistant editor and being promoted to an editor, I have worked at The DTH focusing solely on sports photography. It has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life and my time in college, and I wish words could encapsulate how exciting it is to cover UNC Athletics from behind a camera. The job hasn’t been perfect, and as my friends know, my hours are irregular and my weekends have been filled with sports, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. 

It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t mention some of my favorite moments that the newsroom has provided me the opportunity to shoot, so I’ll just list them: the aforementioned first sports assignment of men’s basketball versus N.C. State and the 2023 women’s basketball national championship run, the 2023 NCAA field hockey national championship, the Chelsea vs. Wrexham game, the Savannah Bananas and, my favorite, the Duke University vs. UNC men’s basketball game at Duke. 

I cannot thank my fellow editors and the entire UNC Athletic Communications team enough for all their help and support over the past year. 

Covering 28 Division I teams (and sometimes club sports too), publishing 629 stories and counting, four special edition sports papers and countless friends, I leave this position as the first-ever sports photo editor of The DTH. 

I cannot wait to see what is to come. 

Continue to raise hell DTHers, I’ll be rooting for you all from the sidelines. 

@dthopinion | opinion@dailytarheel.com