When I first joined WiNK I never would have thought that I would've kept writing for all my years at Wooster. What surprises me the most is that in the beginning, I joined WiNK by accident.

I remember when I first toured the school just a few weeks before the first day. I met with some of the students here at the time and they told me how they wrote for the school "newspaper." They told me about all the possibilities of what students contributed and I thought I could never do that; I could never write something that the whole school would see and read. When it came time to choose electives for the trimester of my sophomore year, I saw journalism on the list of options I thought would be interesting. When talking to the other students about WiNK they never referred to it as "journalism."

When I walked into the first journalism class I was so surprised it turned out to be writing for WiNK. At that moment, all those fears from before returned. Being new at Wooster I didn't know what to expect or if it was even a possibility to drop the class. For that first class, that was what was playing around in my mind. By the end of the class I still didn't know what I was going to do. Should I embrace this new experience? Or forget I even knew WiNK was a thing?

As you can probably tell I chose option one. However, it still took me some time to decide what I wanted to do in WiNK. I started by doing a group article about new students. While that was fun to write about, I finally decided that I wanted to write something on my own about something that meant something to me. My first real contribution in WiNK was about books, movies, and tv shows that changed my life. It wasn't just fun to think back to those things, it felt right to be sharing those things with others. I believe reflecting on that was a catapult for every other article I would write about. I turned the fear of what other people thought into the ideas about what I could share with others that might help them in the future.

I started writing things about life changing foods, new mindsets, my signature Notes from The Universe, my experience learning remotely, and so much more about my life experiences. This year I played around with how assumptions change our perception of everything. I took that idea and watched and read things that I didn't have the best understanding of before fully learning and experiencing it. Some of the books and shows turned out to be great and I really enjoyed them. I've shared my favorites of the notes from the Universe and what those meant to me and how they could mean something to other people at Wooster. After I wrote those articles, I had people come up to me and say they signed up for the notes. Those moments where people say, "I read your article and I thought it was great," are the moments that WiNK writers and even videographers cherish because it means someone heard the message they were trying to share. Being a writer in WiNK has shown me all the other people that want people to hear what they have to say. For any of those reading, if you have an opportunity to join journalism you should!

In true Isabel WiNK spirit, the universe note for today was this:

You know how everyone is always talking about life being a journey, not a destination? And that it's the journey that really counts? That from it, you'll find your purpose, meaning, and true happiness? Well, this is it. Soak it in, The Universe

I think this quote sums up a lot of what Wooster has felt like for me and maybe for some of you. Each and every step taken while at Wooster was more about the journey and experience of it than the rush to the next thing. This is also how I look back on my WiNK experience. If I had known that I would be where I am today, then I might have been able to be more confident in the beginning. However, without those initial fears and the journey of discovering myself through writing, I wouldn't actually have ended up in the same space I am now.

Overall, being able to write about what I am passionate about and reach an audience that cares has meant so much to me. I am so happy that all these years at Wooster I have continued to be a part of WiNK. And it wouldn't be a true final article if I didn't thank Mrs. Thaler for all of her hard work and dedication.