I never set out to make a comic strip. It just kind of happened. Suddenly, three years have gone by in the blink of an eye, and it’s already time to say goodbye.
This is not the end of Ramen Doodles, but this is the last newspaper of the semester and my college career. I would love to keep drawing comics for the paper indefinitely, but I feel it is my duty to relinquish my precious space on the opinions page to someone else. Relevancy is nearly impossible from a distance, and you deserve content made by people plugged into the Harding community.
Who knows? Perhaps another cartoonist will rise from the ashes and take my crown as the campus comedian. Or maybe another creative person will come up with something completely different. Regardless if it’s doodles or not, I encourage anyone with big ideas to go for them. Take some time to flesh them out a bit, but don’t let the fear of failure keep you from pursuing something that excites you.
Drawing a comic for every issue of the paper for the past three years has definitely been inconvenient at times, but always incredibly rewarding. It’s hard to anticipate how people will react to each comic, but I tried to make my doodles fun for everyone. I hope Ramen Doodles has been a source of joy for you when you’ve needed it.
None of this would have been possible without the immense support I’ve received along the way, and I owe more gratitude than I can give. To my loving fiancée, Candace, thank you for constantly inspiring me. To my friends and family, thank you for being my patient focus groups. To Emily Nicks, thank you for discovering my Twitter account and featuring my comics in the paper. To the Stu Pubs staff, thank you for enduring all my lighthearted shenanigans. To the Harding community, thank you for providing me with fodder for my doodles. To everyone who has encouraged me knowingly and unknowingly, thank you for keeping me going when I was discouraged.
To all the fans of Ramen Doodles, thank you for everything.
