A fond farewell to "Team Pirate Life"

Each passing day, it gets harder and harder to believe that senior year is coming to a close and, with it, my college career. I remember my first day at Seton Hall when I was full of uncertainties and unsure of where my time at college would take me. To be honest, I am still not exactly sure where my college career will take me, but that does not mean for one second that I did not enjoy the ride.

If I can say one thing with total certainty, it is that college was more than I ever imagined it would be. Here, I have made friendships that will last forever and, while it is clich?© to say, I am so grateful to have been able to meet the people I am lucky enough to now call my best friends.

One thing that changed everything for me is my time at The Setonian. Like any underclassman that happened to be a journalism major, I decided that being a part of the school newspaper was probably a good decision. I remember my roommate at the time asking me why I would ever want to join a club where they, more or less, gave homework and the completely perplexed look on her face when I told her that the work didn't bother me, that it all seemed worth it. To me, joining the paper just seemed natural and I now realize that taking on that "extra homework," as my friend put it, was one of the most defining moments of my life at Seton Hall.

As I decided to take my position from staff writer to member of the editorial board, while the work load did not lessen, it became more and more worth it for me to pour my heart into this paper, especially as I better began to understand my interests and what it was that I really wanted to write about.

When I first applied for an editorial position at the end of my sophomore year, by a matter of serendipity (at least that is how I like to think about it) I was made copy editor for Pirate Life, where I am now the Assistant Editor. Even though I had been working for the news section at the time, it turns out this was the best possible thing that could have happened to me.

Before Pirate Life, I never really realized that how much I love music was actually something I could write about. That realization, and the path to discovery of it, is something I know I will always be thankful for and something I will always owe to the Setonian.

Pirate Life also gave me the opportunity to flex my layout and design muscles which, believe me, before that point I didn't even know I had.

The late nights, the stress, everything. It was all worth it to be a member of the Setonian staff and work with Erin Bell, Patrice Kubik and Caitlin Cunningham (and, of course Kevin Stevens) as the group that we so-affectionately dubbed "Team Pirate Life." I will never forget any of it and I know that however many years from now, when I look back at college, these will be some of my fondest memories.

Alyana Alfaro is a senior journalism major from Randolph, N.J. She can be reached at alyana.alfaro@student.shu.edu.