This week, I am finishing up my last week as the editor-in-chief of the Iowa State Daily. 

While this year has not ended in the way I had imagined, I can tell you for sure that this academic year has changed my life for the better and taught me so many lessons about leadership, teamwork and collaboration. 

I had the opportunity to be the face of this organization, represent us at the Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Association convention in Washington D.C., and be a community advocate for our public service and the importance of local journalism.

I have gotten to see my staff grow and produce incredible content, and I could not be prouder of all the service we have done for our community. Putting together a paper and working sometimes seven days a week is not a one person job, each and every writer, photographer, editor, copy editor, columnist and newsroom leader is why we have had the amazing year we did.

We have all worked together virtually to put out a newsletter six days a week. Working remotely while taking classes online has proved to be a lot on our plates at once, but my staff took everything in stride and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work. 

I fulfilled my personal goal of writing a column every Friday of the spring semester. Whether I was writing about bi-erasure or by ranking my all-time favorite root beers, thank you for interacting and responding to my columns. I appreciate all the emails and social media comments! Our opinion section is the place for public discussion. 

I also learned a lot about the editorial board and the process behind letters to the editor and the opinion section. Your voice matters, so I highly encourage you to use us a platform to use your voice.

I can only hope that I have inspired my staff the same way my previous editors-in-chief inspired me. They have pushed me to become a better person each and every day, and I could not have had such a great time without them. Whoever hires them in the future is going to be one lucky organization, I can tell you that right now.

In my first column, I wrote about how I excited I was for my editor-in-chief journey, and I can tell you that each step along the way made this journey even better than the destination.

I’ve had a long journey at the Iowa State Daily, but luckily it’s not over yet.

I’ll still be around next year, my byline won’t be going anywhere, but I just feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to give back to an organization that I love so much.

Thank you all for reading and engaging with us, we strive to become better journalists each and every day. We’re always learning, and thank you for helping us learn.

Please stay safe and healthy everybody, and our coverage this summer will still be at that great level of quality and quantity you are used to seeing. We are honored to be a go-to place for all your news, especially during this crazy time.

Thank you to all my leaders, mentors, friends and family for supporting me throughout this crazy job and taking a full course load, while also balancing being a college student. I would not be here without such a loving, caring support system. It really does take a village.

Thank you for everything, junior year. Here’s to one more round.