Happy birthday to us! Today, November 17, Onward State officially turns 13. Holy hell — we’re in our teenage years!

Thirteen years ago, Onward State published its very first post. “Rumor Mill” — a two-sentence, 29-word article suggesting Girl Talk would perform at Penn State — put this blog on the map, and that “act of journalism” even wound up being true.

A lot has changed since three brave freshmen conjured Onward State up in 43 Simmons Hall. More importantly, though, many things have stayed the same.

Since its founding, Onward State has published more than 32,000 original posts spanning the entire Penn State experience. We’ve amassed a Twitter following of more than 156,000 readers and shared our mission with nearly 300 people who’ve worked on our all-student staff and joined our family.

Above all else, our mission stays the same: Onward State works to generate honest conversation in the hopes of enriching the Penn State community and experience. And we’re still having plenty of fun doing it, too.

Our staff of writers, photographers, graphic designers, and more works hard to provide a voice for Penn State students. We’re committed to covering all aspects of the university, including THON, student government, campus life, and, of course, football. You can help us in those efforts, too.

Heck, this blog even survived a global pandemic! We’ve remained committed to telling the Penn State story through turbulent times, including the Sandusky Scandal and Tim Piazza’s death during a fraternity hazing event. And if you’ve taken COMM 260W, you’ve definitely heard about a few of our screw-ups.

No matter what, we’re endlessly appreciative of every reader, critic, and fan who’s helped make our work possible for the last 13 years. Thank you for letting us be a part of your story, too.

Despite the endless streams of angry comment sections, death-threat emails, and absolutely cursed Twitter mentions, we truly wouldn’t be here without you, and for that, we’re eternally grateful. Every “ratio” is worth it as long as we get to continue promoting our one common denominator and shared love: Dear Old State.

Here’s to many more years of success, Drunk-Sober-Highs, 10 Questions, 409 jokes, and Oxford comma usage.

For the blog, always. Thank you.