As I sit here in my office typing this letter, I look around the room and am reminded of the crazy year we just went through together. There is the picture of the first staff of journalists we lead back in September. Monica, Cassy and I all look like little girls in the front and center of the picture, full of laughter and eager to see  what a journey we were about to embark on.

I see stacks of papers full of college admissions papers, preparing this year’s editing team for wherever life takes us next year. I see reindeer ears on a headband from that one time we all decided to do a holiday shoot and Mike ate a dog. Snack wrappers hide in corners and a new Keurig sits on the counter, a reminder of the long nights we spent together slaving over the newspaper. Mike’s collection of photos he stores over his desk is stacked high with all of the photos he’s printed this year, like the leaning tower of pictures.

Photos of our adviser, Andrew Wahl, are hung on the “Wall of Wahl,” an un-official and slightly weird tradition that we started here. I really hope next year’s staff doesn’t take that down. I notice that our whiteboards have gotten dirty and smudged from the continuous story meetings we have throughout the year, these whiteboards have seen a lot of what goes on here on campus, without ever having to leave the room.

On the table outside of my door is a soccer ball that nobody wants to touch, probably because of Nate’s “body image boudoir” photo shoot he did for a story. (I also hope that next year’s staff learns the story of that soccer ball after they touch it.) Our newspaper archives are now visibly packed with 9 new issues of The Clipper, ready to live in there and preserve the history of this year’s staff.

Finally, I see my calendar, scribbled on all over with usual end of the year events, and a countdown is written on the whiteboard outside of my office that reads, “16 Days Until Graduation!” Honestly, I’m excited. I am so proud of all of the work this staff accomplished this year. Our website has boomed with content, our sports section is full of stories and beautiful photos, we have a video team for the first time, our newspapers are graphically diverse, and our story content was kick-butt. I am so overjoyed to see all of the new things next year’s team will bring to the table, and I’m thankful for everybody here who supported The Clipper.  We couldn’t have done it without those who support us.