Senior Farewells: AnnaBrooke Rainey

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 that I realized news is so much more than what I thought.

I took “nterviewing and information with Dr. East in the fall of my junior year. It was in this class that I realized how much I loved interviewing other people. As a writer and an English student, I had been so focused on creating interesting stories from scratch, that I never realized there were real people with fascinating stories to tell all around me. I came to understand that it was just a matter of talking to the right people and asking the right questions to help them tell their story. At the end of the semester, Dr. East encouraged me to start writing for the Tropolitan, and I decided to change my minor to journalism (just my minor and not my major so I could still graduate on time).

I wrote my first article for the Trop in January of 2025. It was on a Trio sweatshirt fundraiser. I was nervous, but I very quickly felt at ease as all the amazing people at student support services welcomed me into their office. That day I met so many sweet people that were helping so many first generation and disabled students at Troy. It was such an honor to help support their cause in what felt like a small way. I remember walking away from Eldridge Hall thinking to myself, “I could do this for the rest of my life.”

I want to thank Emily Mosier for helping me find my footing when I first joined the Trop. Your kindness and patience helped me to keep trying. Thank you Dr. Hanna Cooper for being such an amazing professor and staff sponsor. Thank you to Kathryn Clark and Nate Henderson for dealing with my antics as my news editors. I wish you the best, and I know you will be amazing professionals in this field someday very soon.

Special thanks to career services, the weight lifting club and the geospatial informatics department. It has been a joy and privilege to interview all of the amazing people in your groups, and it has been an honor to cover your events. Kind people like you are who make this job worth it in the end, and your thankfulness has kept me going.

Thank you to my family for cheering me on from back home. Even though the news at Troy University doesn’t apply to you, you still read the papers that I bring back for you. It means the world to me. And thank you Grandaddy for always saving me the funny papers from your Gadsden Times even into my high school years. My earliest memories of seeing the newspaper was you reading one in your recliner. I like to think that’s where my love of the print media truly began.

Thank you to Dr. East. I would not be writing this today if it weren’t for you seeing me and believing in me. Taking your class truly changed the course of my life and made me realize that I wanted to document the stories of the people around me for as long as I can. You have put me on this path, and I hope to make you proud.

Soon enough, I will begin my marketing and communications fellowship with Jungle Aviation and Relay Services. I can’t wait to document stories of pilots and Bible translators traveling into the depths of the jungle to fulfill their greatest purpose in life. I thank God for the opportunities I had at Troy and the opportunities that are yet to come. I truly believe that the Tropolitan has prepared me to fulfill my greatest purpose –  to share the best news of all.  God loves you, dear reader. I wish you all the best.