Being the Nexus News Editor is a shitty job. You work well over 40 hours a week, fall behind in school, miss out on countless hours of sleep, constantly stress out about assigning the right amount of content or editing fast enough to meet a deadline, carefully make editorial decisions only to have them attacked at every opportunity and ultimately earn only about three dollars an hour for it all. But if it weren’t for that pesky “need to be a student” requirement, I’d do it for the rest of my life in a heartbeat.

The sad reality is I’m graduating. And if I told 18-year-old me that I now write this farewell letter with a heavy heart, he probably wouldn’t believe me. You see, I hated my freshman year. (“What?! But how?”) I never cared much for the beach or parties, had trouble making friends and felt trapped in a major that didn’t suit me. It wasn’t really until I joined the Daily Nexus that I started to meet people and find my place in the 21,000-person mini-city that is the Isla Vista-UCSB community. Ironic, then, that only now as I begin to fully enjoy my college experience here, I am stuck with my freshman year plan to graduate early — which I am now prepared to do at the end of my third year.

Though my time at the Nexus has been relatively short, I like to think that this has been an especially important year. We’ve gone through some important structural changes and began the process of what I see as a much needed modernization of the Daily Nexus. I also know for a fact that the Deltopia riots and I.V. shootings alone made college journalists everywhere jealous (not to mention all our other major stories), although I personally would have been happy if neither of those incidents occurred. Indeed, much has changed since I joined the Nexus two years ago, and it has been a privilege to play my part on the team throughout that time. But most importantly, I’m honored to have had the opportunity to work with some of the stellar people without whom a daily campus paper would be impossible.

Carissa: Your dedication to the paper is admirable. I look forward to seeing whatever it is you have in mind for the Nexus in the upcoming year.

Peter: Thanks for staying all those long nights when it seemed I might have to finish everything myself. The news team will be in good hands.

Patrick and Marissa: After seeing you two hold the Nexus together almost singlehandedly (doublehandedly?) for the last two years, it’s hard to imagine a Daily Nexus without you. I wish you luck in whatever projects you take on.

Rilla: Thank you for all the inDesign wizardry, your feature skills, and general awesomeness. This year would have been a veritable mess if it weren’t for your organizational expertise, and I’m glad to see that you’ll be sticking around next year.

Aditya: Thanks for keeping the office so lively. It’s been a pleasure to work with you. Oh, and give me my goddamn Bedford Glossary back.

David: Thank you for enduring all the long A.S. Senate meetings. I don’t know who else could have managed that in addition to all the other editor responsibilities. I’m confident you’ll make a good County News Editor next year.

Suzanne: Thanks for having my back all those times we were a little overwhelmed with writing editing, etc. I’m really glad to see you working with opinion next year, as the Nexus would undoubtedly have been worse off without you.

Hannah and Tiana: I was sorry to see you go, but I hope you find happiness in whatever you choose to do.

Robert and Tina: Thank you for taking on the colossal and vastly under-appreciated job of production. How you’ve managed to stay sane after all the long … long nights is beyond me. Oh, and thanks for all the copy tips.

Kenneth: Thank you for driving for most of the Sacramento trip, for gracing our pages with your last-minute kid pix, and for just being Kenneth.

Peter Vandenbelt and Ben Pu: Thanks for being so easy to work with, and making our job just that much easier. Photo isn’t an easy job, and I can only wonder how we would have managed with someone else at the wheel.

To our readers: Thank you for all your comments, praise, criticism and continued readership. You not only allow us to do what we love, but you keep us on our toes.

To everyone else in the Nexus: Unfortunately I can’t fill this entire page thanking everyone I’ve had the chance to work with (though I would if I could). However, I find it nearly impossible to dislike anyone I’ve worked with under Storke Tower. Getting to know you all has been an enormous pleasure, and if I haven’t gotten to know you very well, I am truly sorry.

Honestly though, I don’t see this as a goodbye. The Daily Nexus has been around seemingly forever, and will keep on keepin‘ on as long as a free press continues to be the nexus of our little campus democracy. Wherever life takes me, I’ll never be too far away to check up on the team either through print, online or whatever medium the future has in store. The Nexus will always remain a part of me, as I hope it will for many of you.

 

Daniel Slovinsky will be back in the office by tomorrow.

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