When I first walked into Kerckhoff Hall, I carried 37 years of uncertainty with me.

I carried community college nights that felt endless. I carried imposter syndrome. I carried the weight of being older than many of my classmates. I carried being a father trying to build something better not just for himself, but for his family. I carried my disability everywhere I went. I carried every moment where someone made me feel like people from neighborhoods and backgrounds like mine were not supposed to end up at UCLA.

And somehow, I ended up here.

At the Daily Bruin, I found more than a newsroom. I found purpose and belonging.

I found people who believed student journalism mattered. People who stayed up until 2 a.m. editing stories because they cared. People who reminded me that journalism is about humanity, democracy and holding institutional power accountable.

The Daily Bruin gave me space to grow into the kind of journalist I always hoped and knew I could become.

I covered campus politics, housing, disability issues, media ethics and communities too often ignored by traditional reporting. I interviewed public officials, advocates, survivors of sexual violence and students who trusted me with their stories. I wrote stories that challenged institutions and stories that simply tried to make people feel seen.

And somewhere in between deadlines, breaking news, medical circumstances – both my own and my daughter’s – caffeine-fueled nights, fact-checking, tightening up stories and chasing down last-minute leads, this place changed me.

It taught me journalism could still be compassionate.

As a transfer student from Los Angeles City College who graduated high school in 2006, there were moments when I questioned whether I belonged in these spaces.

But every editor who took a chance on me, every source who trusted me and every late-night conversation in the newsroom or on Slack reminded me that journalism is strongest when it includes voices that know struggle firsthand.

To the editors who challenged me, thank you.

To the reporters, staff, interns and faculty advisors who made the newsroom feel alive, thank you.

To the photographers, copy editors, designers and every person whose labor readers never fully see, thank you.

To Alexandra Crosnoe, Dylan Winward, Natalia Mochernak, Shiv Patel, Sara Green, Sierra Benayon-Abraham, Zimo Li, Mridhula Thyagarajan, Maggie Konecky, Amanda Velasco, Sam Mulick, Zachary Turcios, Victor Simoes, our former Editor-in-chief Lex Wang, Andrew Diaz, Anna Dai-Liu, professor Abigail Goldman, Doria Deen and of course, Jose Hernandez, thank you for your guidance and resilience even though it wasn’t always easy. And thank you to our office dogs Oliver and Suzy, who made every moment in that space memorable and hilarious at times.

To my family – especially my wife and daughter – thank you for sacrificing so much while I chased this dream. Thank you to my dad for pushing me when I wanted to quit, thank you to my mom for supporting me in every way imaginable and thank you to my stepparents Randy and Debbi who always believed in me and always supported my goals.

Thank you to the Center for Accessible Education and the Students with Dependents Program at UCLA. Though not perfect, the CAE still aided my ability to stay on par with my assignments and provided accommodations necessary for my educational journey.

Thank you to Sarah Molitoris from the Transfer Student Center who was always there if I needed a friend or someone to talk to. Thank you also to Michelle Cabrera and all the student interns at Basic and Essential Needs who provided me with gainful employment and a space to acquire resources.

Thank you to Jewel Bourne – my program coordinator – and Amanda Finzi-Smith, Cee Jaye and Zainab Nicholas from UCLA’s College Corps, who ensured I was able to pay for my tuition and gave me so many chances to complete my program with AmeriCorps.

Thank you to my online gaming community family, who even though we are far, always supported me in ways they could. Big shoutout to the Let’s Support Worldwide, or #LSW, online gaming community!

You gave meaning to every story I wrote.

And to UCLA: Thank you for proving that older, first-generation, disabled students with dependents like me deserve to be here too. You gave me every opportunity to shine my brightest.

Now, I leave the newsroom heading toward graduate school at California State University, Los Angeles with the same thing that brought me here in the first place: hope.

Hope that journalism can still hold power accountable, that storytelling can still connect people and that someone reading this who feels out of place like I once did will understand they belong here too.

The Daily Bruin gave me memories I will carry for the rest of my life. More importantly, it gave me community.

And for that, I will always be grateful. I am so proud to have been a part of this amazing team.

Folsom was News staff and an Arts, Enterprise, Opinion and Photo contributor. He was also a 2022-24 editor and staff writer for the Collegian at LA City College prior to transferring to UCLA.