Well, we’re here at the end, and what a ride it’s been.
First of all, I probably never would have joined the Pacer unless my sister convinced me to. So blame her for everything, or thank her, I guess.
Four years ago, when I came to my first Pacer meeting, I had no clue how big of an impact it would have on my college career. I saw it as just another extracurricular activity, perhaps a way to earn some extra money. Once I had my first published story (SGA recap) and worked on my first print edition, I was hooked.
No senior send-off would be complete without thanking Ms. Tomi. Seriously, the woman has the patience of a saint for all she’s done for Pacer. I’m so glad she’s stuck until the end of the six-year Michon dynasty. Despite never taking a single one of her classes, I can still say with confidence that she’s one of the best professors I’ve met during my time at Martin.
I also want to thank Bethany for making sure that Viewpoints stays winning.
I’ve had the pleasure of watching the Pacer staff quadruple in size in the past four years. I remember that when I was starting out, we were lucky to have double-digit attendance. During this last semester, our staff has completely outgrown the tiny reading room table we used to hold meetings at.
The Pacer has changed so much in four years (I shudder to think of the old website), and I think I have too. It feels like a lot longer than four years since I was that scared-to-death freshman civil engineering major whose greatest worry was having to take a class about concrete.
They say that sometimes one class can change the trajectory of your college career, but for me, it was two: the intro to American Government class and the looming threat of that concrete class.
Now, I know what you guys are here to actually read: all the juicy backstory behind Pacer Pete and the rest of Hawk Spot. After all, it is sort of my baby. After SEJC 2023, we collectively decided to start a little fun page. After all, a bunch of other schools were doing it; how difficult could it be? I decided to do the first one, fully expecting another staff member to take it over down the line. But 14 glorious editions later, and here we are.
The content of each Hawk Spot has remained the same, but that wasn’t the original intention either. The Skystrology in particular was meant to be just a one-off gag for April Fool’s Day. Out of the 156 or so individual horoscopes I’ve created in the past two years, there are at least a dozen I can’t believe they let me print. By the way, I have no idea what any of that astrology stuff means. If your specific horoscope felt tailor-made to your sign, know that it was completely coincidental.
The star of the show is definitely Pacer Pete, though. When we decided that our special fun page needed a comic, I was really the only one who had any experience drawing comics. They weren’t GOOD comics necessarily, but still.
Pacer Pete was always intended to be a representation of our paper’s mascot, but the only reason he isn’t a bird like I originally planned was because I absolutely could not draw what the online art crowd calls “anthro”. So, a dude with a sentient hat it was. Captain Skyhawk was easy to come up with since he’s essentially a human version of the mascot costume. Pacer Polly came a few months later, partially because we really needed some female representation and partially because it’s really hard to keep a comic running with only two characters.
I will be the first to admit that the first few comics were very rough. I think the first issue took me a grand total of two hours. Pete looked twelve years old and had a precocious tooth gap for some reason; all the text was hand-drawn, and there was absolutely no color correction. But over time, things got cleaner. I finally figured out a consistent design, learned how to Photoshop all my pencil smudges (all the comics are drawn on paper and digitally scanned in, in case you didn’t know), and stopped going ham with the unnecessary details.
I could tell an improvement, but I had no idea if my silly comics were objectively “good” or not. I mean, people said they liked them, but maybe they were just humoring me. SEJC 2025 and winning that Best of the South award for “Best Artist/Illustrator” was a real defining moment for me.
I will never forget hearing that announcement at the ceremony, and not just because Bethany recorded it. It was the first point I realized: “Hey, maybe people really do like the comics!” Maybe this silly thing I came up with two years ago is really worth something. Maybe I didn’t redefine the boundaries of investigative journalism like my colleagues, but I did make people laugh. Maybe that’s enough.
I can’t say what’s going to happen to Hawk Spot in the next four years. I know Aubrey is going to do a great job taking over Pacer Pete for the foreseeable future, but after that, who knows? I sure don’t know where I’ll be in four years. I do know that I’m not going to stop drawing, even if I don’t get paid for it anymore. One does not simply abandon their original characters after so much time.
These senior farewells always seem to end with some advice, but I’m no sage. I’ll just say this: Don’t be afraid to do things just because they’re a little silly. By all means, go after your big, auspicious dreams; I know I will. But it doesn’t have to be so serious all the time. The world needs a little goofiness. Sometimes, it must just be one of the best things you’ve ever agreed to.
