This is it. My last column as a staff writer for The Daily Campus.

It’s been a pretty good gig. Every week, I’ve gotten to share my thoughts—some more coherent than others—on whatever’s happened to be on my mind. And while I wouldn’t presume to say that I had a loyal following or anything, I did get some (mostly) nice feedback. In fact, even the people who disagreed quite vehemently with my columns tended to be very polite, insightful and pleasant in their comments.

There was the time I briefly mentioned an anti-circumcision bumper sticker I’d seen in Binkley parking garage and had my inbox flooded with responses from people passionate about the issue. I learned that there are not only quite a few people in the anti-circumcision camp, but also that they have some compelling arguments.

I leave it to you to research their cause and come to your own conclusions, but I will say they brought to my attention an intriguing issue I’d never before considered.

I got called a raging liberal and a heartless conservative, both times from people attempting to compliment me, i.e. “I ordinarily don’t like your columns because you’re a pinko, commie bastard, but this time you got your head out of your behind and spoke some sense.”

My parents in particular were pleased to hear me denounced as a liberal: lifelong Democrats both, they’ve been silently weeping since my 18th birthday when I registered Republican and then voted for Ron Paul.

So thanks, angry conservatives. You convinced my mom and dad there might still be hope for me yet.

A retired social studies teacher wrote me a very nice e-mail complimenting a column of mine. At the end, she told me she was from St. Petersburg, Fla. It was nice to hear not only that The Daily Campus has regular readers as far away as Florida, but also that at least one of those readers hails from my hometown. Clearly, we native St. Petersburgers do have great taste.

All this is by way of saying that I’ve very much enjoyed not only sharing my thoughts with you but also hearing yours back each week. I’ve always thought the DC opinion page should be the start and not the end of a campus-wide conversation, and for the past two and a half years, I’ve had the privilege of being just one part of that discussion.

Thanks to Jay Miller and the advisory staff, the other editors and writers in the newsroom, and you, readers of The Daily Campus, for a hell of a time.

Nathaniel French is a senior theater major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].