While it’s my senior year, this is just the beginning for thousands of University of Kentucky students. There are a handful of “lasts” we’ll experience this year, but there are also many new experiences around the corner for us. 

Most of the student body will be voting in their first presidential election. We have a new men’s basketball coach for this upcoming season. The largest classroom building at UK is under construction and no longer hosting classes. There are constant changes with DEI, faculty senate and housing at our university. 

These pivotal moments will define our university and our nation, and our staff is anxious to cover every development with the depth and integrity our readers expect. 

Whether it’s the pulse of politics, the excitement on the court or the stories that matter most to our campus, we are ready to capture it all.

One of my greatest passions is learning how to be a watchdog and what it means to hold those in power accountable. 

As I practice this journalism at the Kernel, I am inspired by the incredibly talented group of journalists I work alongside. Teaching new staff at this rapidly growing media outlet has been thrilling; continuing this teaching and leadership as editor-in-chief is such an honor.

The Kernel has brought me my best friends, my mentors for life and incredible subjects that so kindly let me into their lives for a day or even weeks. 

Being in journalism has encouraged a life of curiosity and intellectual exploration because it’s more than a profession.

“Awe is an emotion that you feel when you encounter vast things that are mysterious,” psychology professor Dacher Keltner once said.

In journalism, this awe arises when we uncover stories that show the intricacies of the human condition and the depth of the world around us. 

It’s the moment when a reporter first grasps the lede of a story or when a photojournalist captures a fleeting moment full of emotion.

What follows this awe is wonder — a mental state where curiosity takes the lead and the desire to explore and discover becomes irresistible. Having experienced this, I know the wonder drives me to dig deeper, ask more questions and seek out the details that others might overlook. It transforms the initial awe into a dedicated pursuit of truth, storytelling and connection.

At the Kernel awe and wonder work hand in hand, encouraging us to uncover the life within our university and to share those discoveries with our audience, regardless of whether those discoveries are good or bad. 

This is the beauty of journalism. It is a field fueled by awe and sustained by wonder, constantly pushing the boundaries of understanding and opening up new worlds for exploration. 

The Kernel has been a shining example of this since I first heard of the paper on my initial tour of the university. 

After I moved into Frances Jewell Hall in the fall of 2021, I went to Campus Ruckus where I met Rayleigh Deaton, the then-editor of the Kernel. She invited me to the Kernel Retreat where I met the staff, learned about the Code of Ethics and got my first photo assignment before classes even started. 

Within a day I had an awe for journalism and I haven’t been able to shake the wonder since. 

I look forward to a year of growth, curiosity and telling the truth through the Kernel every day.