EDITORIAL: Farewell Whit

More than any other entity, The Whit has defined our college years. Like an old friend, it’s been there through times when we needed to keep ourselves busy to times when we wished The Whit didn’t keep us so busy. I’m sure any editor or writer who has called the pub suite their home away from home has had a love/hate relationship with the publication they’ve tied their college years to.

For us it’s been a journey — one of highs and lows — and one we wouldn’t trade for anything.

In a time when the journalism industry is in turmoil and we’re all unsure that the jobs we have been trained for will exist in six months, let alone tomorrow, it’s difficult to graduate with the endless optimism you expect at this time in your life. But why not? This is a time of great opportunity, with emerging new fields and avenues of technology leading to possibilities for storytellers in every capacity.

To next year’s editors, we are so proud of the progress that all of you have made, and can’t wait to see you go even further. We look back and see ourselves in you; we also see ourselves in your place on the brink of a new position and experiences. It is worth it in the end because of the lessons you walk away with. You can trust us on that.

We put in long hours for very little pay and a lot of stress. When we first joined The Whit as freshmen, there was a running joke that “you weren’t a true member until you had cried in the office.” It’s a sad but true reality of the pub suite that you don’t work at The Whit if you’re expecting a walk in the park. However, don’t let the fact that nothing in the pub suite is easy keep you from maintaining your optimism.

No, working for The Whit isn’t easy, but some of the happiest, craziest, funniest and downright most absurd moments of our college careers have taken place within the halls of The Whit offices, whether it is playing football in the pub suite at midnight or riding a scooter around the upstairs of the Student Center. The stress is always subsided by the fact that you know are you putting together a successful product with a group of dedicated individuals.

The Whit’s new Editor-in-Chief, Nate Goldberg, quoted John Lennon in his election speech. He said, “A dream you dream alone is just a dream, but a dream you dream together is a reality.” No greater saying could apply to The Whit. You are as strong as your weakest member, as fast as your slowest editor, and as enthusiastic as your most bitter employee. The Whit is a team, and it’s when we work together that we work best. Next year you will prove — just as past editors have proven — that above all else, we are a family who is there for one another when they need it the most.