As this long, tedious school year comes to an end, I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize and thank all The Observer’s staff members who are graduating or otherwise leaving our editorial board. Not only have you all kept The Observer afloat, you’ve also made this year a bit more bearable for me and for the other people surrounding you. Thank you.

You’ve all also contributed countless, thankless hours to The Observer. You’ve endured considerable hardships and issues with aplomb. Sometimes, you’ve had to stay up incredibly late to edit stories on a strict deadline. Other times, you’ve faced stressful confrontations with hostile university officials. I could list a myriad of difficult circumstances you’ve had to deal with. Moreover, I could endlessly list your triumphs and achievements.

The work you’ve done has not been easy and it has not gone unnoticed; I, and many others, appreciate it immensely. Thank you for your professionalism and work ethic.

Outside of your numerous contributions to The Observer, I’m also so happy and honored to be able to call you all my friends. I truly never expected to meet such caring, selfless individuals. Moreover, I didn’t expect those people to want to be my friends. Many of you were there for me when I was struggling or facing difficult times. I don’t know what I would have done without you. 

I appreciate you all immensely. Thank you for your friendship.

I simply could not think of a better group of people and I admire you all greatly.

I will miss you all a lot, but I know you all are off to do exciting things—I cannot wait to hear about them—and I hope you’ll come back to production night to visit us.

It will be a lot different with all of you gone, but we can all take solace in the fact that you’ve helped The Observer become a welcoming, fun place. Thanks to you, students of all different backgrounds and viewpoints can come together to share their opinions, hold the university accountable and report the news.

You’ve made The Observer feel like a family—something I, for one, have definitely enjoyed and appreciated during these difficult times. So, once again, thank you so much for everything.

Chris Markham, Vini Mathur, Yvonne Pan and Jackson Rudoff are all graduating this spring. Jordan Reif and Justin Hu are leaving the editorial board for other reasons.