Letter from the editor: Senior reflection
When I found out I would be the editor-in-chief of The Sabre for the 2019-20 school year, one of my first thoughts was about this article – the final sign-off from the newspaper that gave me my start in journalism and the community I was searching for in high school.
Truth be told, I’ve put more thought into this reflection than prom, graduation, or any other senior event – which turned out to be a good thing in the end.
As the last staff member to be a part of The Sabre when it printed physical papers, my graduation marks the end of a transition into a fully digital media platform. While I do feel that the website is the best way to share the stories we write, I’ll always have a soft spot for the printed word – I still have multiple copies of my first Sabre article in my room.
I leave The Sabre in trusted hands: rising seniors Amalia Villegas Vega and Maddie Breeden will be taking over as editors-in-chief. They are the two students I have worked the most with over the past two and a half years, both brilliant journalists and fantastic people, and I can’t wait to see what they can do with The Sabre next year.
I can’t leave without thanking Mr. Smith and Ms. Bagley, who have been my editors since I walked into the newsroom for the first time in the middle of my sophomore year. Mr. Smith has trusted me so much as I’ve shown him my talent and dedication to journalism, and the opportunities I’ve had to work on the sidelines at football games, photograph a Congressional art show, and have my photo appear in the USA Today – many of those would not have been possible without Ms. Bagley’s support.
Everyone knows this isn’t the way the Class of 2020 expected to graduate – but honestly, how else could it end? Of course the class that experienced the 2016 election as freshmen went on to graduate over video-chat (although a viral message claiming one graduation would occur on Roblox turned out to be a hoax – good thing journalists were there to validate the story).
I’ve heard many friends and family members express their condolences for the situation, but I’ve chosen to look to the future. This senior class is so talented, from top football recruits to passionate STEM majors to artists already working with the Smithsonian. We can’t change social distancing, but we can remember what it is that we would (and still are) celebrating: not only the culmination of four years of hard work, but the first step into our future careers and our future lives.
