In his 1644 pamphlet “Aeropagetica,” English polemicist John Milton said, “Though ye take from a covetous man all his treasure, he has yet one jewel left; ye cannot bereave him of his covetousness.”

That quote, which I read in Lee Wood’s introduction to American journalism course during my first semester of college in 2016, captures the essence of my Pitt-Johnstown story.

As the campus hosts a Mountain Cat media, music and more reunion this weekend, I wanted to share my experiences with the student newspaper with the hope that it touches at least one reader’s heart.

I joined The Advocate in January 2017 during my second semester of college, starting out as a contributing writer before quickly earning the credential of staff writer after my fourth byline was published in the paper.

By the time that happened in late February, the paper’s funding was threatened by a petition student government senators and members of the executive board signed and circulated themselves, creating a clear conflict of interest.

The petition requested to have The Advocate’s print funding cut entirely unless its staff stopped publishing articles about students’ citations for alleged law violations and removed already published articles providing details of public record criminal-conduct allegations from its website.

The paper’s staff stood their ground in a meeting between its editorial board and the student government’s executive board. Shortly afterward, I was elected as the paper’s opinions editor and the matter seemed to resolve itself after leadership in both organizations changed hands.

Throughout the entirety of 2018, I served as the paper’s news editor while managing a full-time course load, a part-time job at Warfields’ Market in Patton and was a regular freelancer covering nearly a dozen entities each month for the Mirror, the Daily American and its sister publication, Our Town, in Somerset County.

When Warfields’ Market was sold to a new owner in September 2018, I bet on myself as a freelancer and opted not to work for the new company.

In November, I was elected The Advocate’s editor-in-chief one day removed from having two front-page stories in the Mirror and the Daily American.

It didn’t take long before I went into debt from traveling back and forth to campus every day, buying necessities like food and paying for my own cellphone, which I needed to hotspot my laptop for freelance work.

The next semester, I moved into on-campus housing, stopped writing altogether and became depressed to the point I had developed a plan to commit suicide.

I was hospitalized for major depressive disorder for six days and medically withdrew from all but one of my courses. I remained in charge of the paper and was a student government senator at the time.

I slowly regained my life back together when Jon St. George of Big Shot Bob’s House of Wings contacted The Advocate looking to put a help wanted advertisement in the paper. There wasn’t a need for the ad; I answered his call and was hired on the spot upon meeting him.

For much of 2019, I drove a retired cop car throughout the city of Johnstown delivering chicken wings to residents late at night, often receiving some strange looks upon pulling into people’s driveways with their order.

Then COVID-19 happened and I was back to square one. I still needed to finish a few credits to qualify for graduation, but I didn’t have the money to continue on with school, so I took a hiatus to work.

In January 2021, I was hired by Subway of Ebensburg, where I still remain employed part-time today. I took on a second job at Denny’s in Johnstown before moving to the Richland Eat’n Park restaurant along Scalp Avenue. I also briefly returned to Big Shot Bob’s and worked a third job to save up money for college.

During that time, I was diagnosed with a mild level of Autism Spectrum Disorder and was in therapy for a couple months before returning to Pitt-Johnstown to begin making progress to complete my journalism degree — one class at a time.

I graduated in December 2022 and began working my dream job for the Mirror full-time in 2023.

At Pitt-Johnstown, I was taught to be committed to the cause of excellence. Although my life experiences weren’t always positive, they shaped me into the person I am today, and I was able to get through them with the help and support of many friends.

As mental health awareness month wraps up, I want to encourage people struggling with depression or other mental illnesses to continue to reach out for help. If you’re in a place where you feel like you need help, don’t be ashamed to reach out to someone and get it.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520 and mchurella@altoonamirror.com