By NATALIE SACKET
Feature ‘Creature’ Editor
I can’t tell if I’m excited, sad, nostalgic or just relieved (probably a mix of all the feelings), but this is my last edition with the Northwestern News.
Okay, okay, no need to breathe a sigh of relief.
How do you sum up three years of great experiences? After staring at my blank screen (curse you, writer’s block) for the past hour, I’m not certain how to say goodbye. (Curse you, goodbyes!)
I’ve made a ton of truly wonderful memories at this university. Some of my favorite memories, however, have been made during my work with the Northwestern News. It has been the late nights and early mornings in the newsroom, the interviews with strangers on campus, the stressful moments and intense writer’s block that have made me love being a member of the Northwestern News.
I came into the newsroom my first week of freshman year, looking for a place where I could submit a little writing. They gave me a chance, despite my lack of experience, and I became a staff member the following week.
Here, we wear a lot of hats. I’ve served as a writer, reporter, columnist, photographer, editor, layout and graphic designer. There’s something to be said for having a job where you learn a lot and make tons of memories along the way.
Now this is the boring part of the Oscar’s speech (sure, I may be pretending I won an Oscar) where I say thank you… a lot. So if you’ve no desire to listen to that, you can just skip ahead to the following paragraph.
Thanks to the fall 2013 staff who tolerated my measly presence and desire to write for the newspaper. Particularly, thanks to Michael Collins, who taught me 75 percent of what I know, mocked me 90 percent of the time, but was a true, good friend 100 percent of the time.
Thank you to Nick Villalobos, Rachel Emerson, Charles Boldes, Ryan Shumaker and Osamu Sakamoto, the staff members who share this newsroom from early mornings to late evenings, and every moment in between. You all are the real MVPs.
Thank you to the former Northwestern News advisor, Tom Pantera, who took his office hours to teach me how to write for a paper and who was one of the few people who laughs at the lame jokes in my articles.
A BIG thank you to the current news advisor, Dr. Kaylene Armstrong, who pushed me beyond my state of ‘I already know what I’m doing.’
Looking back, I made a lot of mistakes in my writing, and I continue to do so. I believe she has done wonders to help turn this newspaper back into an award-winning paper.
I’m sad to be leaving right when we’re getting into the swing of things as a staff, but I’m excited to see what Northwestern News does in the future.
At times, this can be a thankless job. Typically, we’ll go two months without hearing from any readers. Usually, the silence is only broken because we’ve annoyed someone or made someone angry. Hey, any feedback is good feedback!
But every now and then, we get a comment from someone saying they enjoyed the week’s edition or someone’s article, and it makes it all worth it. It makes the work, hours and stress all worth it.
I sit here, as hail hits the Northwestern News windows, the campus is closed and I’m drinking coffee at 8:00 p.m. Nick, Charles and Rachel are here, snacking on potato chips and trying to recover files that might be lost after the power went out.
We probably should be back at our dorm rooms or apartments catching up on homework or, heaven forbid, sleep. Instead, we are diligently working on the newspaper.
Rock music is cranked up; we’re getting grease on the keys; we’ll be here all night, folks. This seems like the perfect last evening to spend in the newsroom.
It’s really hard to say goodbye to an experience that has shaped three years of my life. I consider that a good sign, however. I’m glad to have contributed to the Northwestern News.
Now, I’m signing off. Thanks for a great three years!