Dear Readers,
This is an incredibly hard letter to write. I knew the time would come for me to leave the Northern Review and move on to another project, but now that the time has arrived, I’m deeply saddened to say goodbye to an organization that has been my home for the past four years.
I joined the Northern Review staff during my freshman year at Ohio Northern University.
I attended the annual Welcome Fest. It’s funny to think about how skeptical I was to attend the first staff meeting back in 2013. In high school, I hated journalism.
I could write news articles, but it wasn’t “fun” for me. I never anticipated joining the newspaper staff in college. If I could go back in time and see that high-school version of myself, I would laugh in her face.
She also hated poetry, and now I’m a published poet. It’s funny how much life can change in just four years.
But once I managed to remove the skepticism and attended the first meeting, I quickly fell in love with the Northern Review.
The editorial staff my freshman year consisted of encouraging individuals who truly motivated me to try my best. I soon rose to become the Arts & Entertainment editor during my sophomore year, and I kept that position until I became Editor-in-Chief.
The Northern Review is a special place. A lot of hard work goes into writing and editing the stories for our online newspaper. Readers, thank you so much for taking the time to browse through our website and helping us grow. For those of you who are reading the 2017 spring print paper, thank you for taking the time to pick up the Northern Review. Because of you, we’re still able to have two print papers per academic year!
When I was named Editor-in-Chief last year, I was determined to implement various changes. I wanted to give students a voice. I hoped to engage with as many students as possible. This led to my decision to include a weekly comic strip, the regular ONU Problem of the Week, and the “What’s in your backpack?” series we ran this past spring semester.
I wanted to give you, readers, an opportunity to become involved in the Northern Review, as this is your student newspaper.
The editorial staff recently wrote a position on how we are here to serve you. We’re fellow Polar Bears, writing about campus news for you. I have loved being a part of the newspaper staff because it allowed me to understand ONU more, and I’ll always value the opportunities I created here.
I’m proud to be the Editor-in-Chief of this paper.
This paper, of course, would not have been possible without the staff I worked with every week.
I was blessed to have a staff that worked well together.
Our office has been a place for both work and laughter, and I loved it. Nick, Grant, Dom, Sam, and newcomers Nathan, Holly and Grace: I could not have done anything I accomplished this year if it weren’t for all of you. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have a staff like you. All of you did such a good job this year and we made it! Thank you for all the faith you had in me this year. I hope I made you proud.
To Dr. Tilton: Your faithful guidance this year helped me so much. Whenever I had a question, you were right there with the answer. It’s been a privilege to work with you for the past three years. You showed me what it means to be a journalist, and I’ll always value the information I learned from you as I move on to my first professional job in a few weeks. Even though I’m leaving, I’ll miss you dearly.
To you, our readers: Thank you for being so dedicated to the Northern Review. We would not exist without you. Having a college newspaper is a privilege these days, and we appreciate your continued support.
With that, I leave you in the very competent hands of our new staff, led by Editor-in-Chief Nick Pesetsky. Good luck everyone, and thanks for a wonderful year! I’ll continue to be a loyal fan.
I’ll leave with a final quote by Winnie the Pooh that I’ve been reflecting on during my final days as an ONU student: “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?”
It really is hard to say goodbye.
Signing off,
Kasy Long
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