This is the last regular issue of The Pioneer, but it isn’t my last letter from the editor. I’ve saved my nostalgia for the graduation edition of The Circuit, out next week. Here, I would like to recognize the wonderful team of people that have made this a truly standout year for The Pioneer.

First, Production Manager Ted Hendershot, who saluted me on the night of my very first editors’ meeting and has been unfailingly faithful to The Pioneer ever since. When I told Ted that I wanted to start a magazine––a project that required tremendous extra work on his part––he was 100 percent on board. His design chops guided us to our first print edition award at the Associated Collegiate Press national media convention in March, and his leadership and training skills have fostered an outstanding team of production associates, all of whom blow me out of the water every single week.

And now Cara Lowry, the girl who is responsible for my sanity and at times my self-esteem. Cara and I have been friends since our freshman year, and by this point she is able to predict my weaknesses and step in with her incredible strengths. As Managing Editor, Cara looks after the operation of the newspaper from start to finish. She’s a copy editor when you need it, a sounding board and a source of wisdom when difficult questions arise and a laugh when people are getting cranky late on production nights.

Though I can’t give them the space they deserve, I owe a huge thank you to all of my editors and managers: to News Editors Shelly Le and Karah Kemmerly for stepping up to an enormous responsibility and handling it with grit and with grace; A&E Editor Caitlin Hardee for her unquenched passion for music and for never needing my help; Sports Editor Libby Arnosti for her unfathomably cheerful disposition; Opinion Editors Kyle Seasly (fall), for diving into the insanity as a first-year and Alex Brott (spring), for his guest columns and headlines; Feature Editors Kelsey Kennedy and Alyssa Fairbanks for taking what Cara and I started and adding their own creativity and ingenuity; Humor Editors Adam Brayton (fall) for instinctively knowing how to lead a team of writers and Cari Cortez (spring) for being done with her page each week before I even arrived in the newsroom; Chief Copy Editors Erik Larson (fall) and Jean Marie Dreyer (spring) for being voices of sanity, Web Editor Sara Rasmussen for ending the sentences that start with “I don’t know . . . ” with ” . . . but I’m working on figuring it out”; Webmaster Kirk Crosland for fixing problems that were not his fault; Web Content Editor Josh Goodman for his great ideas and following through with them; Illustration Editor Binta Loos-Diallo and Photography Editor Ethan Parrish for style and beauty in art and in life; Advertising Manager Hannah Bauer for setting high goals; and all the other incredible people who give their time, energy and tears to this publication.

And finally Senior Reporter and next year’s Editor-in-Chief Rachel Alexander, for always saying, “I can do that,” for pursuing journalistic excellence and inspiring others to do the same,  for always believing in the power of the paper and for never giving me a single reason to worry about next year. You’re going to do incredible things, Rachel.

Thank you for the most challenging and most rewarding experience of my life,

Tricia