The Cavalier Daily office is a lot like an Antarctic research base. No, really. Although a student newspaper and the least-inhabited place on Earth might seem like polar opposites - no pun intended - they actually do share a great many traits. Each is a remote location where few dare to tread. Each has a dedicated group of staffers that spend huge portions of their time there. Each has a management that treats you well to keep you from going insane. And each has native wildlife - be they penguins or cockroaches - that completely lacks fear of humans.
So the metaphor might not be perfect. But it's illustrative, and the factors it illustrates aren't well known to most people. I certainly wasn't aware of them when I started working for The Cavalier Daily in my second year. Back then, I was writing for the Life section, writing student-interest stories about dorm energy-saving competitions and state fairs. It was a blast, and I quickly worked my way up the ranks to associate editor.
Before I knew it, another year had passed, and I was pondering a campaign for editor of the Life section. It would mean a much greater commitment of time and energy - two or three afternoons a week in the office - and I wasn't sure I could handle it. So it's more than a little surprising that I wound up running for operations manager, a job that required eight to 12 hours a day, five days a week, instead.
You can say I was coerced into the job, or that I was forced, or that I was threatened at gunpoint, and while those all carry a kernel of truth, the fact is that I wanted the job. The past year has been one enormous and fantastic experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I've learned more about journalism, running a business and even myself than I ever could imagine. And even though my term is over, it's impossible to take The Cavalier Daily out of me, or even to take me out of The Cavalier Daily office, as most anyone on staff currently can attest.
The experience couldn't have been as fulfilling without all the amazing people I worked with along the way. Lindsey, Maria, Kelly and Lauren did a great job bringing me into the fold as editors of the Life section, and if not for my lovely co-editors, Connie, Irene, Stephanie and Keely, there's no way I would have felt at home among the paper's staff. My AMEs, Conor and Cait, probably opened up the world beyond Life for me more than anyone else. And of course, the rest of the managing board has become like a second family to me over the past year - I couldn't have made it if I didn't have Andrew, Tom, Connie, Annette and Ross to fall back on.
And I wouldn't have survived without support outside the paper, either. My roommates deserve to be canonized for putting up with my chronic absence during the day and my frantic working during the night. My family has always been willing to put up with me not being able to visit or going off the radar when my phone stops working underground. My professors over the past year have been incredibly helpful in granting me the inevitable extensions I needed to get anything resembling a decent grade. And everyone who made the newly redesigned Cavalier Daily Web site a success by checking it out deserves a shout-out as well. Especially our regular commenters - Earnan and Jonah earned more than a few exclamations of "ohhh snap!" around the office, and I always pour one out for Sean when I'm getting together with my buddies at Planned Parenthood. Last but not least, my girlfriend Helen deserves some sort of medal for making it through the last year without developing a seething hatred for journalism in general and helping me to break the MB curse.
I'll close by wishing good luck to the 121st staff. I'm confident that you will be able handle the challenges of the next year. And to the rest of the University community, pick up a paper and get involved. Write a letter to the editor. Leave a comment. Every bit makes the office feel less like Antarctica and more like home.
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