I can’t believe this moment has finally come. After three years, four full semesters as an editor and two before that as a contributor, my time at The Daily Campus has come to a close.
As I write this, my snowflake weather icon has melted into a tear.
I put off writing this as long as I possibly could, because to write it would be to admit that my time here was finally up, and no part of me wanted that to happen so soon.
I could not be more grateful for the opportunities my job here has afforded me. Brandon Bub, I can’t thank you enough for first pestering me to get involved with the paper to help balance out the liberal nuttiness your opinion page had become. Tashika Varma and Rahfin Faruk, I could never thank you enough for hiring me as opinion editor over whoever else had applied. It changed the course of my life. And Trevor Thrall, I’ll never forget the day you walked into our open house and told me you had opinions. Your columns were always the ones I looked forward to reading most when I put them on the page, and I couldn’t be happier that you applied to be opinion editor after me. You’ve made my days here brighter.
The Daily Campus has truly defined my college career, both socially and otherwise. All my best friends have been made here, and heck I even found the best roommate I could have ever hoped for in college in Christopher Saul. Matthew Costa, you aren’t as old as I make fun of you for being and I’ve loved being your drinking buddy. Rahfin, Trevor, Matthew, Christopher, I love all of you guys and to lose touch with any one of you would break my heart. Please don’t let that happen.
It’s hard to imagine life without budget meetings, without hours-long productions going into the wee hours of the morning.
The Daily Campus has changed so much since I’ve gotten involved too, and we’ve had a lot of fun adventures here. From the opinion column on alcohol and rape that went national last November and cost everyone on staff a week’s worth of sleep, to covering election night 2012, writing two versions of every article and finally heading home at 2 a.m.
One of my first great memories was staying far later than I was used to doing as opinion editor and working on a very in-depth editorial board about Daily Campus policies and procedures that kept us in the office until midnight on a Sunday (about 5-6 hours later than we usually stay).
I remember baking pastries, pies and cakes every Sunday to bring for the staff back in my first semester here. The tradition fell off, but I wish it hadn’t.
I’ll never forget these memories.
It’s been an honor to see how much people love what I’ve written, to hear professors tell me to “never stop writing.” I’ve truly enjoyed every moment of working here.
As I sign off, I can’t help but think of my legacy here, and one thing comes to mind above all else: the snowflake weather icon I created last winter.
Snow is such a rare occurrence at SMU that we had never bothered before to create an icon for the front page. So last November, I spent several hours during Sunday production creating one. And, if I may say so myself, it turned out pretty damned well. This icon will continue to be used for many years after I leave, my longest lasting effect on the paper.
I don’t want to leave, I don’t want my time here to end.
Lauren Aguirre, it’s been a pleasure discussing politics with you these past few years. You’ll do a great job as editor in chief. Christina Cox, hearing you had applied for managing editor allowed me to leave knowing the paper had been left in good hands. Katelyn Gough, I hope there is plenty of Jell-O in Jordan. I won’t be joining you if there is, though.
And I guess this marks the end of my final column for The Daily Campus. I really wish it wasn’t. I’ll miss this more than anything else about college.
And that’s a budget. Get to work, guys.
