Good morning, Cola. Lauren here and today is my last day with COLAtoday.

This “see ya later” is especially difficult (and I’m not good at goodbyes to begin with) because COLAtoday + 6AM City have been a dream to work for. Before becoming an Editor, I interned with COLAtoday twice — shoutout to Sam and Miranda for teaching me so much. In March of 2020, I began my career as an Editor alongside my rockstar co-Editor, Jess.

In the process I:

Learned how to navigate a pandemic alongside all of you
Volunteered with Harvest Hope + shared the experience
Dove into my love for homes and learned all about Sears and Roebuck houses
Explored the city’s mysterious underground tunnels
Tried an interesting Bojangles combination that had taken Twitter by storm + so many other adventures that I don’t have the space to name.

I’m thankful for every opportunity that came my way + grateful for each of you who ever opened a newsletter and read my words.

A little over a month ago, I moved out to Denver, CO where I’ll be starting my next adventure + exploring everything in the process. Having grown up in Blythewood + attended UofSC, Columbia has always been my home and I’ll be back to visit often.

I also can’t sign off without a huge shoutout to Jess + Sam, COLAtoday’s newest editor. These 2 seriously rock + have so much fun stuff planned.

I can’t wait to continue reading COLAtoday and keeping up with my city alongside each of you. This isn’t goodbye Columbia; it’s see ya soon.