It’s hard for me to say goodbye. No matter how many times I have to say it, goodbye never gets easier. Leaving the Clarion is no different.
I remember taking my first journalism class at Sinclair Community College. Sandy Hilt gently drilled free speech, free press and free democracy into each of her students’ heads class after class. She spoke quietly but quickly with passion and grace, and I couldn’t help but catch her enthusiasm.
Neither could some of my classmates. I remember one guy in the back of the class would come up with some of the craziest comments. I especially remember him talking about how Nadya Suleman was inviting a media frenzy if she continued to put herself and her children in the spotlight. At the time I thought he was crazy and even callused, but Joseph Stueve turned out to be right. He also turned out to be my editor this year.
I remember another guy whose perspective couldn’t be topped. When Sandy would ask us for story ideas, he would say someone should do a story on the longest tenured employee at Sinclair, the oldest athlete on campus or the maintenance workers who kept the campus clean for everyone. Samuel Huist published each of those stories this year.
Joe has grown from a guy with a knack for sports writing into an editor capable of making split-second decisions while managing calls from school administrators, coaches and staff. Sam, the once reserved staff writer, is now the undisputed king of human interest stories and humorous life columns. I can’t wait to see what happens for both of them as they mature even further in their careers.
No matter how many stories we wrote we couldn’t have published them without Heather Stamm and Alex Linton. Their creativity, flexibility and dedication have made this year’s paper a sight to behold. I think the five of us made a great team this year, and I will miss each and every one of them.
Most of all I will miss the paper itself. I feel like this office is my home and this school is my home turf. I have experienced so much of what Sinclair has to offer because of this paper. I have discovered passion through my work at this paper. There’s no way I could ever forget the Clarion’s influence on my life.
With that said, I say my final goodbye to the Clarion and its staff. I know when I look back on this, I will not think of this as goodbye. For all of us, this is only the beginning.