When I first started working at the Daily as a freshman, I would get really frustrated hearing comments from other students about what a cruddy paper we were. You couldn’t really avoid them; you’d hear comments at the bus stop, classroom, pretty much anywhere.

Since I was a part of the whole operation (albeit I was a lowly freshman with a reporting beat), I knew firsthand about the hours of work the editors, photographers and reporters were putting into the paper — it certainly isn’t your average extracurricular activity.

The fact that people would even dare to criticize what had become my job, and embarrassingly enough, for a freshman who hated to leave her dorm room, my only social structure at college, was appalling to me.

Now, with more than three years at the Daily under my belt, I’ve mellowed and nothing can really faze me anymore (believe me — I’m sure I’ve heard them all). I know there are problems, but we’re a pretty good student newspaper, and any ISU student who believes different obviously hasn’t taken a gander at some of the other student papers that are out there.

While to the majority of ISU students, the Daily exists as a main (or unfortunately, in some cases only) source of news, for those of us who work here, it is an excellent teaching tool, a job and due to the amount of hours we’ve put into it, the only real life we’ve known in college.

This is my last official day at the Iowa State Daily (a little more than seven semesters, and about every news-related job possible). I wanted to take this time and space to thank my summer staff and the other people who’ve made my experience here a positive one.

I know personal columns can be irritating to read (I apologize to the general public), but this is my retirement, so think of this as my cheap gold watch.

First, a thank you to the two Daily editors who are graduating at the end of the summer session, Josh Flickinger (sports editor, almost five semesters at the paper) and Allison Wade (photo editor, almost eight semesters at the paper).

Josh will be getting married to a very nice woman almost immediately after taking his finals. I know many members of the Daily staff have enjoyed having him around to “represent.” Good luck, Josh.

Allison will be moving to Texas and is working on finding a job. I think any paper would be lucky to have her; she’s a hard worker and was always pleasant to be around.

Next, Jocelyn Marcus, my layout editor, don’t be whining because you’re not first, order doesn’t mean anything. Seriously, Jocelyn put a lot of time into the summer Daily, and the new summer design was the product of many hours she spent experimenting and asking me what I wanted. She never got frustrated, and her attention to detail is impeccable.

Plus, as those of you who consistently read the paper know, Jocelyn was one of our top reporters and wrote many articles on one of the biggest stories of the summer, President Jischke leaving Iowa State for Purdue. Thank you for your work, Jocelyn, I’ll almost miss taking you home for the billionth time after work (almost).

The news desk was made up of three individuals, Heidi Jolivette, Justin Kendall and Tara Payne, who were relatively new to the Daily but were more than willing to work hard. They were my most pleasant surprise this summer and without a doubt one of the reasons why the news was so strong (Jischke leaving, the honors building and subsequent naming and Marcus Fizer going into the NBA didn’t hurt).

Heidi: Thanks for working so hard with the reporters. I believe you taught them quite a lot, and you should be proud. Justin: Your stories are a pleasure to read. Thanks for your dedication, and I’m looking forward to working with you on ethos next year. Tara: Couldn’t ever really tell if you were having fun, but I could tell you were doing an outstanding job. I promise I get my vacuum out of storage at your apartment someday soon.

These people didn’t have very many reporters but still managed to create a very readable, interesting paper. To the people who did report fairly consistently and to Kim Smith’s 201 class, thanks for your work.

The opinion section has long been one of the strongest and most enjoyable parts of the Daily, and Editor Greg Jerrett is the reason. He’s been a good friend to many of us at the Daily, including me, and I appreciate his work. I will still look forward to reading the opinion section next fall.

Kyle Moss, arts and entertainment editor, worked hard and always listened to suggestions and comments. I don’t agree with him on the musical merits of Eminem, but he was a nice guy to have around and will likely spend many more years here.

Thanks also to Rua Pokladnik, assistant photo editor, cartoonist Carmen Cerra (she was always one of my favorite people to work with) and the copy editors, Maria Ball (who was a double-threat, she was also a reporter) and Angela Crist.

I wouldn’t have been able to put out a paper without any of these people.

On a last personal note: Thanks to my mom and Gary, other friends and family members, roommates Wendy (who insisted on calling all my columns “articles” no matter how often I corrected her) and Michelle (who taught me a lot when she was here at the Daily), to very good friend David Roepke and to every Daily editor before me who offered me support, especially Keesia Wirt (wherever she is) and Tara Deering (in Omaha, Neb.), who not only educated me but inspired me.

Thank you and good night.

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Kate Kompas is a junior in journalism and mass communication from LeClaire. She is editor in chief of the Daily.