When I walked into the newsroom Tuesday, I planned to just sit down and pound out a farewell column, but the day proved to be a bit more hectic.
With the bomb scare that rattled people in Bowling Green on Tuesday, it just goes to show that this year has been nothing short of newsworthy.
Luckily, I’ve had the editors and the staff necessary to grab a notebook or camera and go when something happens. It makes for an exciting atmosphere that I’ve come to love and that I’m sad to leave behind as I prepare to graduate Saturday.
The BG News is something that I have been lucky enough to be the editor of not only once, but twice. The experiences I’ve had with all of the people in 210 West Hall are the ones I’ll remember for a long time.
Being the Editor-in-Chief, I tend to get a lot of the blowback when things go wrong, but I also get a lot of the credit for the things my staff accomplishes.
They’re the ones who have worked so hard to bring students news everyday of the week.
Their long nights spent in 210 West Hall are the ones that have helped to create award-winning designs and one of the top ten college news websites in the country.
While I have nowhere near the number of column inches on page four to thank everyone who has helped me make it from day one to graduation, there are a few I’d like to point out.
The previous editors-in-chief at The BG News helped me get to the top of the paper in a short amount of time and I’m lucky they took the time to teach me and encourage me.
My adviser, Bob Bortel, has also been someone who has helped mentor me through every difficult story and front page.
In terms of this year’s editor’s staff, Alex Alusheff, Eric Lagatta, Ryan Satkowiak, Kendra Clark and a slew of others have always offered a number of innovative ideas and great deal of support in and out of the newsroom and I’ll always be grateful for it.
Abby Welsh and Matthew Thacker came through for me in the clutch by jumping into two positions immediately at the start of second semester and making each of their sections look better than they did before.
Also, I’ll always remember late night Waffle House ventures with Tyler Buchanan to talk about In Focus ideas and pleading with Design Editor Christine Kohler to put a “drop cap” in every story.
And to my successor, Danae King, you’ll do even better than any of us previous editors have in terms of team building, coverage and everything else. I’m sure of that.
These, and many more, are the people who have brought students the news for a year or more.
They are one of the main factors in my success and The BG News’s. I owe a lot to them.
Although the newsroom will soon shift from a place where the walls look like they’re painted with the leftover seafoam green paint of Olscamp Hall to a new facility, the friendships and hard work that developed there, are lasting ones.
I’m proud to have been part of the staff that came together in there on Tuesday and throughout the rest of the academic year. I’m proud to soon be a BG News alum.
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