When I was about to leave for college, I heard from almost every adult in my life: “Those four years will be gone in a blink of an eye.” To 18-year-old me, that seemed impossible. I didn’t realize how true it really was until that cap and gown were sitting on my bed, staring me down. I mean, just yesterday, I was moving into my freshman dorm and going to every Welcome Week event that was offered. I was learning the ropes of campus and getting used to a college class schedule.

Well, here I am. The end of the road. I came to Troy as a junior in the fall of 2024, transferring from the University of North Alabama. Stepping onto campus, I only knew two people, and neither were students in the Hall School of Journalism and Communication. I knew starting a new school where I hardly knew anyone was going to be a challenge. The main reason I decided to transfer to Troy was to pursue TrojanVision. I originally had no intention of writing for the Trop

A lot can change in four years. When I stepped on campus in August 2022, I couldn’t have envisioned what my life and time at college would look like today. As a nervous, socially anxious freshman, I never would’ve imagined I could be the slightly less nervous, socially anxious senior I am today. In all seriousness, my entire worldview and perspective on life have changed at college, and I’m so grateful to this period of my life for helping me figure out who I am. My first spo

When I came to Troy as a freshman, I declared my major as English and was intent on becoming an English professor someday. I had never once planned to become a journalist –but oh how plans love to change. I remember taking a job assessment quiz in eighth grade and one of the recommended jobs was journalist. I thought, “Yeah right, all journalists do is talk about politics and murders. That’s way too grim for me.” It wasn’t until I came to Troy and met Dr. Stefanie Hicks East

How can one simply jot down two years? My time at Troy University is coming to a rapid close, and I just have so much to say. When I arrived here as a transfer student from Wallace Community College, I never expected what this place and the people in it would mean to me. As a student in the English department, I have had the unique honor of coming to know some of the hardest working, supportive, encouraging faculty in all of our school. Thanks to these professors who believed

If Barbie truly can be anything, I guess I am living it. I started my college career at Troy as soccer Barbie, complete with cleats, gloves and my emotional-support water bottle. Then, I became nursing student Barbie, pink stethoscope and caffeine in hand. When I entered the Tropolitan Dreamhouse, I wasn’t sure where I fit in. My roommate encouraged me to join the Trop, but I still couldn’t picture myself writing news. Could I really be journalist Barbie? I remember my first

Growing up, all I have ever known is sports. It’s all I’ve talked about my entire life. From obsessing over stats and scores, to attending as many events as possible, it is an obsession. What better way to use that obsession than to write about it? Being able to cover Troy Sthletics has given me remarkable experiences. I covered multiple Sun Belt championships for men’s basketball and have traveled to several states to cover the “school we love.” My favorite thing about being

I never thought I could write for a newspaper. Coming into college, I thought my opinions and beliefs were unimportant, small and not worth articulating. After all, who cares what a teenage girl from rural Appalachia has to say? Emily Mosier, a previous editor-in-chief for the Trop who I had the honor of competing alongside on the debate team, encouraged me to start submitting opinions, and eventually to apply for a scholarship with the paper. Nervously, in January of 2025, I

As my time at Troy comes to an end, I have begun to reflect on all of the amazing memories I have made here. Cheering at the collegiate level for the first time, finding my people in a new place, winning the Sun Belt in football, cheering to a bowl game, competing on a national level and so many other moments have made my time here unforgettable. There are a few moments that are truly more memorable than any of those things. My journey to journalism was not conventional. When

As my Troy career ends, I’ve reflected on all my achievements, and working on The Tropolitan is one of my biggest. The journalism department has been nothing but supportive all four years, but this past semester working as copy editor has brought me closer to my peers, given me insight into the industry and prepared me for future opportunities. If I had to give advice to a freshman me, I’d tell myself to get involved with The Tropolitan sooner— it’s an experience on campus un

From a smooth nostalgia perspective Bruno Mars’ fourth studio album, “The Romantic,” is a clear, straight to the point 32 minutes, nine-track project that marks a deliberate return to his soulful, retro-inspired sound. Known for blending modern pop with vintage influences, Mars leans even further into his nostalgic aesthetic here, drawing heavily from 1970s and 1980s soul, pop and slow-dance ballads. The result is an album that is polished, emotionally warm and sonically cohe

The mention of a cheerleader probably invokes visuals of the all-American, happy-go-lucky, girl-next-door type who is always happy to support the team under those Friday night lights. Jo Spencer, however, is not quite a picture-perfect part of the cheer squad in Jill McCorkle’s 1984 novel “The Cheer Leader.” This story is about so much more than football games. Rather, this novel is about the maddening nature of what it means to live up to the standards of womanhood in the So

Troy’s popular music band, POPulus, will be releasing a new single this month in a genre the members haven’t previously explored: bluegrass. The band will be releasing a cover of the song “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” this Friday, May 1. Bluegrass is a genre that has inspired students in the band. “I’m a fiddle player, and I’ve grown up on bluegrass and classic country music,” said Chase Dawson, a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Phoenix, Arizona who is playing the fidd

Troy K-EDU Center introduced students to the Korean alphabets through bracelet making at the K-Wave Day last Wednesday. Students focused on greetings and introductions as those are the most basic parts of any language and some of the most useful phrases to someone who isn’t fluent. According to Minsol Kim, the assistant director of the K-Center, the organization’s goal for the event was to give students the tools they needed to communicate with international students and othe

An array of beads was scattered across the lab table in the Math and Science room 212 last Thursday for a bracelet making night. Students from the Troy Beta Beta Beta (Tri Beta) chapter, a biological honor society, made colorful and creative bracelets to sell for a future fundraiser. There was a mix of lettered and colored bead with the students being able to decide how they wanted the bracelets to look. Some were Earth Day themed, some had words and others were just colors.

Troy’s Frequency Choir put on a powerful and emotional concert at the Johnson Center for the Arts on Monday. The theme, “Love Notes,” featured a mix of genres including jazz, Broadway and pop, giving the audience a little bit of everything while tying it all together through the idea of love and connection. “I think it embodies the love of music and the connection we can all have with it,” said Avery Foster, a freshman biomedical science major from Albertville, Alabama. “Musi

From live animals to edible insects in a variety of flavors, the annual Earth Day festival brought a fun and unique approach to environmental awareness. Troy’s Naturalist Club, Marine Biology Club and College of Science and Engineering held the event on the quad last Friday afternoon. Those who attended were able to learn about the environment with cyanotype art, live animals, educational zines and artistic activities. While some students explored the exotic, others focused o

Troy Athletics announced a new clear bag policy for athletics events last week. The new policy will debut this fall. The new rules now prohibit fans from bringing items such as backpacks, large purses, coolers, fanny packs and outside food/drink. Now, fans are only permitted to bring in a clear bag that is at maximum 12”x6”x12”. Fans are still permitted to bring in seat cushions, blankets, binoculars and small purses within specific measurement parameters. The new policy come

A historic 2-0 midweek win over Auburn punctuated a 3-2 week for the Troy softball team, which finished off the weekend with a 4-3 walk-off win over ULM on Senior Day. While the Trojans dropped the series to the conference-leading Warhawks after 4-2 and 6-2 losses, Troy salvaged the weekend. Troy took down Auburn on Wednesday night, avenging two road losses to the Tigers earlier in the year behind six scoreless innings from Ella Cunningham. The win was the highest-attended w

“I’m holding us to a higher standard.” As Aaron Sisk works at his desk in the north endzone complex of Veterans Memorial Stadium, that higher standard is evident in all the work he’s done. The Moorhead, Minnesota native, whose official title with Troy Football is “Director of Football Video,” has followed the Troy football team through four years and two head coaches. In this most recent season, Sisk was named the Collegiate Sports Video Association Sun Belt Video Coordina

After going 12-7 during the regular season and 6-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, the No. 3-seeded Troy women’s tennis team fell to No. 6-seeded App State in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Tournament to end the season. One of the many highlights of the season for the Trojans was their 5-0 start against conference opponents. Doubles play began with Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Ruby Broadbent defeating Troy’s senior duo of Valeriia Avdeeva and Maria Guirguis, 6-1 – the duo e

A hole-in-one from freshman Thomas Crane puts Troy in contention to make the elimination rounds of the Sun Belt Tournament. Crane would hit the hole-in-one in the first round on the 196-yard 15th hole. That shot was the first hole-in-one in Troy history since Cam Lorman in 2017. Crane finished the second round 1-over and tied for 20th after a 2-under first round and 3-over second round. The freshman from Mobile, Alabama, would also knock in seven birdies in the two rounds com

Troy’s track and field team dashed to Philadelphia to compete in the Penn Relays starting last Thursday. The meet had teams from around the nation, with Troy being the sole representative of Alabama. Starting off, Aaliyah Murphy broke her own school record again during the women’s 400m hurdles , blazing through with a time of 58.71. Murphy has now broken the record for the event twice this season and once last season. On the relay side, Kasahn Rivers, Josh Kalozi, Milos Nisic

Troy’s Jimmy Janicki was recognized as the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Week last week. This award recognizes the top NCAA Division I catcher, based on both offensive and defensive performance throughout the week. Janicki hit .450 on the week with a 1.486 OPS, totaling four doubles, two home runs, 13 runs batted in and three runners caught stealing. The cleanup man put an exclamation point on the week with a walk-off grand slam against Louisiana to win the