At 9 a.m. every day, a reminder to “Be Nice” pops up on my phone.
Then, it sits on my home screen for the rest of the day until I feel justified in marking it complete. That, unfortunately, is not an everyday occurrence — although I do think my shooting percentage has risen steadily since I first set my phone to give me the daily reminder six years ago.
I love to be brutally honest. I like to make jokes during emotional moments. But in this space, I’m hoping to be a little more genuine.
The Michigan Daily has made me better in a lot of ways. Being Managing Sports Editor has made me a better leader. I think my writing has improved a decent bit too. Above all else, the Sports section has given me people that make me a better friend. Those are the people who challenge me to fulfill my daily reminder.
Let’s start with Zach.
On my first night at The Daily, Noah wished me, “Bye Zach!” on my way out of the building. My byline is not a pseudonym. Zach is just another blond man who joined the Sports section around the same time as me four years ago.
I had yet to meet him then, but I was fortunate enough to be co-Managing Sports Editor with Zach in 2025. So, the confusion followed us for all four of our years here, with at least someone from each new class struggling to tell us apart.
Beyond when people first meet us, however, Zach and I are hardly mistaken for one another. A freshman even made a point recently about how necessary our differences were to our MSE partnership. What he probably overlooked, and what I overlooked for a long time, was how important those differences were to me.
It was an inevitable bad cop-good cop dynamic for us. Zach always smiles and Zach always waves. He challenged me everyday to be more welcoming, and to be more patient.
Noah, next.
Boldly, Noah has dubbed himself the future best man at my wedding. We’ll see.
What I do know is Noah will go to war for a friend when they need it. He’ll also aptly criticize people (me) when they need it. There’s balance in friendship and no one walks that line better than him.
“Nice” has so many forms and I have Noah to thank for showing them to me.
Of the friends I’ve mentioned or will mention, Rekha is definitely the most similar to me. The grand exception is her tact.
I like to share all my thoughts, Rekha likes to save hers for the most opportune moments. She does it the right way and has taught me to be more intentional with approaching different situations and, namely, different people.
My high school yearbook teacher, who deserves thanks herself — I would have never explored journalism without you, Mrs. Dolata — pointed out that my comments are usually backed by a “disarming smile.” Welp, I have Kenzie and Alina to thank for teaching me that a smile doesn’t always make up for a misguided joke.
I wanted to be their friend very soon after they joined The Daily. As I struggled to make friends as a freshman, I kept coming back to the Sports desk, urged on by Sam — who, after transferring, made friends by just repeatedly showing up way more than I did.
The second part of making friends, I learned from Kenzie and Alina, is sincerity. You show up for people with your presence, your demeanor and your words.
Last three: other Sam, Josh and the other Zach. This is the most basic of the points I’ll make about being nice and making friends, but they showed me how much it means to invite someone to do something and to keep inviting them. I always smile when Sam asks me to play a board game or when Zach, Josh and I make a plan to host some event.
OK, I think those are sufficient thank yous to everyone — nice enough to check off today’s reminder.
***
Tuesday, my final night here on Maynard St., will be a bit less sad knowing how far into my future these people will stay with me — and how what they taught me won’t ever go away.
But I also wonder if I’ll ever come across a place that brings people together quite like the Sports section does. I tried to be a better friend and a nicer person not just because of the few people I had the space to name above, but because of the stream of people who’ve made this place my home over the past four years.
People were nice to me from the moment I joined. People introduced themselves to me at my first meeting. People texted me about my stories, but also after production just to check in.
I know I was imperfect at paying that forward, especially at first and even to an extent when I was MSE. But I always tried, and still try, to be a little bit nicer everyday.
I try to smile like Zach does. I try to fight for people like Noah does. I try to say the right thing at the right time like Rekha does. I try to be genuine like Kenzie and Alina are. I try to include people like Sam, Josh and Zach do.
And I’ll keep trying everyday to check off my “Be Nice” reminder.
