When I came to Fordham as a freshman, I didn’t know anyone aside from a handful of people from my hometown. I was finding it hard to make friends. I felt lost and a little isolated, which made my first semester of college challenging. The club fair was my saving grace.

While walking around Eddie’s on a hot August afternoon, I came across The Fordham Ram. I signed up for the email list and decided to try my hand at copy editing, largely because of Amanda Maile, FCRH ’17, one of the copy chiefs for Volume 98 and a familiar face from my hometown. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

What started as a way to get out of my dorm for a couple of hours on Tuesday nights turned into the most worthwhile experience of my life. Of all the email lists I put my name on at the club fair in 2016, the Ram is the only one I’ve stuck with to this day. I fell in love with the welcoming and at times silly atmosphere of B-52 and I’ve been falling ever since.

I moved from copy editor to the position of copy chief alongside my partner in crime, Lindsay Grippo, FCRH ’20, for Volume 100. I can’t thank Lindsay enough for making my time as copy chief so amazing, filling B-52 with loving, positive energy and sometimes tea tree essential oils. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my Monday and Tuesday nights editing articles with anyone else.

It was during Volume 100 that I truly found a family in the Ram. The staff showed me that a club isn’t just a club when you truly care about it. It’s an escape from the stress of schoolwork, a place to get a little philosophical about anything and everything, a place where you know you’ll be accepted and supported.

Volume 101 came around and I found myself on the executive board of the Ram, acting as executive editor. The position has taught me a lot, especially when it comes to stepping outside my comfort zone. But then, the Ram has been redefining my comfort zone since I first started as a copy editor. Having a leadership position in the club that helped me so much my freshman year has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and it filled my heart with so much joy since the first issue of the volume.

As important as the work at The Fordham Ram has been to me over the years, the people are what made the countless hours in a windowless basement room worth every second.

To Amanda Maile, thank you for being the familiar face that convinced me to join the Ram in the first place.

To Lindsay Grippo, thank you for being my partner in crime. Co-star was right: we truly bring out the best in each other.

To the staff of Volume 100, thank you for showing me that you can find a family in a club.

To the staff of Volume 101, thank you for making my last year on staff the most amazing.

I may have only stuck with one club during my time at Fordham, but can you blame me for choosing the Ram over everything else? Whatever I have put into the Ram, it has given me back tenfold. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have been a part of something so wonderful. Though I may be saying a bittersweet goodbye, I don’t regret a single second. The Fordham Ram may be my one and only, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.