With two weeks left, it finally sunk in.
This was where I’d wanted to be for a really long time. Try 15 years. My grandma Loretta Garcia and I had always talked about this city back in Bellflower, Calif. I came here on a road trip when I was ten and the talks with Grandma went from her farm, or her “Li’l bit of Heaven,” to my four-year high school plan to graduate and come to the University of Tennessee.
Grandma won’t be able to see me graduate, but my Grandpa Angele Garcia and I would both agree that if there’s one thing Grandma would be doing right now, it’d be the last thing I saw her doing even while fighting cancer: dancing to the Soggy Bottom Boys’ “Man of Constant Sorrow.”
Looking back at the last four years, I can honestly say this place has changed me for the better. My first semester here, I stood in the same spot that triggered my sports writing passion; I stood where Clint Stoerner stumbled and lost the football, costing Arkansas what would’ve been an upset of top-ranked Tennessee back in 1998.
UT alum Eva Posner introduced me to Student Publications Director Jane Pope. From there, I got to work with some of the brightest minds in the Southeast. I’ll never forget Nash Armstrong coming up to me after my first article and offering help if I ever needed it. Zac Ellis and Matt Dixon were great to work with and never shied away from helping me out during my assignments. Lauren Kittrell, especially, was great to work with. This year’s sports editor was always helpful, reaching out when my writing struggled.
I did become a stronger, more organized writer because of the help I received along the way. Dr. Amber Roessner, who has a sports writing passion that can’t be matched, taught me to be better than a “hit-or-miss” writer. Dr. Elizabeth Hendrickson’s Business in Journalism class taught me the importance of teamwork in a journalism environment and that creativity shouldn’t have limits (although I’m pretty sure my acting career is done for after the 2Hype video my friends and I put together). Dr. Dwight Teeter aided me in understanding journalism law and helping me raise awareness on what can and can’t be written.
Three people who will always stand out to me during my time here on campus are Preston Peeden, Victoria Wright and especially Emily DeLanzo. Preston is incredibly ambitious when it comes to gaining information; I feel like I learn something from him every day. Victoria Wright is wonderful to talk to and is always a treat to talk to whenever I walk into the office. Emily, without question, is like gravity; her energy and outgoing spirit make you want to be in that office every single day. I’m very proud to say I got to work with all three of them. I can’t thank The Daily Beacon enough for giving me my shot and can honestly say this newspaper is going to reach some incredible heights with David Cobb, RJ Vogt, Troy Provost-Heron and Melodi Erdogan in the office.
The smile my Beacon buddies all got to see came from my time on the ice. The last four years at the Icearium and the Knoxville Coliseum were just as fun as the first four. Barry Kyker deserves a big thanks; I’m a more patient hockey player now, and every game on the ice is like the first one because of him.
Chris Dempers, Joe and Don Williams helped me, in my brief run with the Ice Vols, become a more aware, organized skater. Yes, it’s fun getting to slam a defenseman into the boards trying to beat an icing call.
My final year will be impossible to forget. I’ve met some incredible writers through creative nonfiction who’ve helped me develop into a lengthy writer and won’t forget any of them. I had an exciting Portuguese teacher, Wanessa Martin, who was one of the loudest fans in the modern foreign languages and literature soccer tournament I played in on April 5; I’ll never forget dancing at center field with all of my Flemingo teammates as well as the players from Fluminense and the tournament champions, Santos.
I’ll be the second member in my family to graduate from college; my cousin Joan Bailey graduated here in 2010. I can’t wait to walk the stage on May 9.
I’m proud to have a brother and sister like Chad and Jessica Elias who I looked up to for their tough minds and stubborn wills; they both also know how to make me laugh on any given day. I have a wonderful mom, Angel Garcia, who worked night shifts and still did her best to provide for her family, something she deserves a lot of credit for.
It’s always fun getting to call and make her laugh when we’re able to talk; if it weren’t for the road trip my mom and stepdad took me on, I wouldn’t have gone back to California with the eight-year drive that got me back here.
Leon Elias, my dad, was a strong reason in why I never gave up on getting here. He’s a strong reason in why I’m writing today. He’s an Arkansas Razorbacks fan who grew up in Hot Springs, Ark., but he’s been one of my strongest supporters since I made this my goal.
He’d go to every game I played growing up, especially in my first six years of hockey. We went through some really good times and some really rough times getting here and he kept telling me to believe. When I did, I’d run into one of his old bosses and they’d tell me how my dad was taking each article I wrote and showing them off to his buddies. I’m very proud to call this man my father.
Like 1980 Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks once said, “The legs feed the wolf.” I leave here now with the confidence in my own abilities as a writer or whatever I end up doing as a career.
To the spring 2013 graduates, congratulations on the work you put in; now let’s go get our degrees.
— Anthony “Tony” Elias is a senior in journalism and electronic media. Tony hopes to one day play for a semi-pro hockey team but most importantly to continue writing sports journalism. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @YNot317.
