EIC says his goodbyes

When I first started writing for The Bona Venture my freshman year, I had the goal of making it to the editor-in-chief position. Two-and-a-half years later, I’m preparing to pass the torch along to the next leaders of The BV, and it feels strange.
The BV had become a very important part of my life during the past two years. Sunday and Tuesday meetings, long Wednesday nights, Thursday editing sessions and, for this semester, I was also The BV’s paperboy. The BV has caused me to miss a lot of sleep, wake up early on occasion and scream some of my favorite words and phrases in an uncensored fit of exhaustion and rage.
But as I write this, I am getting emotional realizing it won’t be the same next semester.
For the past two years, I have a played a big role in making sure the paper was ready to go out to the public on Fridays. I edited every story, and I reviewed every page multiple times a week. Now, I may write here or there. I may edit a story or two. But every paper will no longer be something I put my own personal stamp of approval on. That job now goes to my managing editors.
Liam McGurl and Christina Root decided to take on the position a little late, but have made my job so much easier. Thank you for all your help with your ideas and clear journalistic talent. You’ll both do great next semester as the first Co-eic’s.
To my editing staff, you’re all wonderful. You came with ideas, and even on weeks where it felt like disaster struck, you helped keep this paper going strong. Even on a Wednesday night where all the power in our newsroom was out for parts of the first two hours and there were questions if The BV was still going to run that week, you didn’t stage an all-out revolt when I said it would.
To the editors who have helped get me to this point and helped out this semester even though they had busy lives outside a college newspaper, thank you.
To our advisor, Prof. Carole McNall. I have so much to thank you for. For setting up a group of professors to help critique our work and make us better, for throwing stories our way whenever you hear of them, for putting up with me all this time. You make our lives in
The BV easier, and you’re one of the most understanding people I know.
I have one final thank you for everyone I’ve mentioned and that thank you is for the product we put out this semester. I am proud to stand by every single edition of the paper this semester. We had some controversial weeks, some stories didn’t make people happy, and The BV went under a microscope that we haven’t been under for a while. But, I am proud of the semester of work that we have done.
I still plan on spending a lot of time in the basement of the Reilly Center, because The BV is my favorite place to be on campus. I have eaten all three meals of the day in that newsroom, I have taken many naps on the couch in the newsroom, and I have many friends in that newsroom. Friends that will last a lifetime. So, I will still be a part of The BV next semester, but only to help the incredible people that helped me.