Liam Koch, Sports Editor
State Times is the perfect example of why clubs are so important to both the physical and mental well-being of a student. Physical because I had to hike myself up to Hunt Union twice a week from Higgins, and mental because I have never seen a kinder, more welcoming group of people at this school.
My name is Liam, and I spent one year serving as Sports Editor of The State Times and one semester serving as a contributing writer working mostly in the sports section. My journey here began with former Arts Editor Lex Valluzzi, a close friend of mine who practically begged me to join the club. I found a group of people who smiled constantly and were always available to speak to. From former Arts Editor Alyssa, to Former Sports Editor Riley (We’ll talk more about her later), I never felt like an outsider. Laughter filled every meeting while we worked and spent so much quality time together. I will never forget that.
But something I did not expect was that The State Times would affect the outside of my life as well. Before The State Times, I was a quiet, shy individual who would never share anything I worked on with anyone or anything, but I found myself more willing to put myself out there. Because of this, I won the Harry Bloom Award for Fiction Writing twice in back-to-back years (I am basically Shohei Ohtani.) I also found myself more willing to share other work. I started doing independent studies, writing and sharing with professors, and that led me to write the first draft of a 459-page, ~130,000-word novel.
Alright, time for the most emotional part of this piece. To quote 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen, “Like, it — it truly takes everybody to… Have team success. And I’m so fortunate to be part of a great organization.” I would like to dedicate this section to the people of the club who are so important to me. First, Alyssa. Thank you for always being there if I needed help. Erica, thank you for telling me that you do not like sports and would not do any articles for me; it gave me quite a good laugh. Grace D and Grace V, it’s a shame we did not get to meet sooner. Thank you for all your hard work. Maeve, thank you for your work. Emma the Photographer. Great work, I’m glad we have you. Mary Gilmore, I will always appreciate you for giving me at least one sports-related article every single week and making my life so easy with your incredible writing prowess. Ollie, thank you for being the other person to join the club with me and keeping me sane all this time.
Dr. Black, thank you for being so important to the club and its members, always providing a place full of helpful advice.
To Lex Valluzzi. I will never say it out loud to your face, but thank you so much for everything. I am so happy to call you a friend, and I know that your impact on not only The State Times, but also the people who call themselves part of it will never be understated. I am so excited to watch Survivor 50 with you every Saturday.
Riley Peru, current President and Editor-in-Chief of The State Times, thank you for putting up with my antics, putting up with my banter that borders on just plain rude half the time. You are so patient with me, even when I know I do not deserve it. You are one of the smartest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing and one of the kindest people I have ever had the privilege of calling a friend. You will always be my liege, and if you say to jump, I will always respond, “How high?”
Also, thank you to the Student Association for funding our club. We are happy to be a part of this SUNY Oneonta student club association.
And finally, to the readers. Thank you for reading The State Times. Through ups and downs, I have always enjoyed the privilege of being part of this club. I appreciate everyone who takes a second to click on one of our student articles and give us a look. Thank you.
Finally, for real this time, I will quote Josh Allen one more time, this time, the end of his MVP speech. “Be good. Do good. God bless. And Go Bills.”
Leave a Reply