Over the course of my love affair with the Iowa State Daily, I’ve been a great many things and worn many hats, each one slightly more elaborate and bedazzled than the last.

I’ve been a snobbish old coot, frittering away her final days by penning a swath of letters to the editor, and grinning madly at every published submission before I pinned it to my scrapbook.

I’ve been an angry reactionary, condemning everyone and everything from “Twilight” to Sarah Palin for how much they suck, suck, suck.

I’ve shown the world as I know it my inner dork, analyzing and offering punditry on video games, Dungeons & Dragons, comic books and more.

I’ve been a flaming queer, outing myself as a furry-loving, bisexual, transgender girl and running in tandem with the LGBT community as they strive to make a difference in our quaint little town, state and country.

And I’ve even come to head the Opinion desk — to the dismay of some and joy of others. So it’s been a pretty wild ride. One that comes now to its end.

As I leave you now, to join the likes of dear Secretariat and Seabiscuit in greener pastures, I would simply like to thank you for following along as you have for these incredibly fun years. It wasn’t always easy, I certainly wasn’t always perfect, but I tried. Through your encouragement — and yes, even your harsh critique — I’ve grown to be a better person. Not just a better journalist, but human being.

Remember in our world, a world where knowledge and information are as prevalent as the curls in Little Orphan Annie’s hair, the power and responsibility lies with you. As journalists, as columnists and as brothers and sisters in humanity, we can only do so much. We can point you in all the right directions, but it’s up to you to take the initiative and wield that information as power.

Everyone is a journalist. Everyone has power. That’s something I’ve learned during my stay at the Daily.

Now, I plan to put that power to use. To live my life the way I want it to be lived. To, as corny as it sounds, begin my pursuit of happiness.

But what about you? What are you going to do with your power?

If I can make you ponder that thought, even for a moment, maybe my time here has been worth it. Good luck out there.