Lorenzo Basilio/Daily Nexus

Lorenzo Basilio/Daily Nexus

Hey Gauchos,

Two years ago, it was pretty much impossible for me to think I’d be sitting here, less than two weeks away from graduation, writing my last piece for the Daily Nexus. I transferred to UCSB a bright-eyed 20-year-old, fresh out of junior college with no experience on how to live life outside my little hometown of Monterey. Although I did photography semi-professionally for a weekly newspaper, I had little experience writing and reporting news at the college level, much less on a daily basis. Before walking into my first lecture as a UCSB student (Dr. Hasegawa’s awesome 8 a.m. western civilization course), I wanted to join the Daily Nexus. I knew it would be different, probably more intense and hopefully a bit more interesting. All that proved true in more ways than I thought possible.

I joined the editorial staff in Winter Quarter after a dozen weeks on the writing team and my work at the paper became a roller coaster of all-nighters and last minute interviews and more than our fair share of breaking the news on a series of painful events that shook our campus community to the core last year. This year, thankfully, was a bit quieter news-wise, but no less intense for us despite a shift to weekly issues and all the challenges that came with it. But through it all I’ve learned so much, both about who I am and the value of protecting free speech on campus at all costs.

Before signing off for good, I have a few thank yous to give out.

Thank you to Carissa, our lovely outgoing Editor in Chief, for taking a chance on me and bringing me onto the editorial staff. Last year you hired me after a measly 12 weeks of writing and taught me so much about the craft of journalism and how to lead, I wouldn’t have gotten through the rigors of leading the news room without you.

To Lorenzo and Kenneth, our photo editors extraordinaire, you both have come through for me so many times on last minute photo requests and often being the first on scene when shit goes down, all while capturing incredible pictures for our stories in the process. Props to you both for a job consistently well done.

To Robert, Ashley, Simone, Liana, Andrew, Grace, Roxanne and Ava, the unsung heroes of the Nexus, a big thank you to all of you for copy reading and headline writing for my many last minute story submissions. You all deliver under pressure like no one else I’ve ever seen.

To David, for having my back in all the decisions I made, giving me some valuable perspective when I felt most challenged by my job, and of course, going beer for beer with me after all our work was done.

Last but certainly not least, to Cheryl, Megan, Beth, Juliet and Supriya, the incoming news editors. Thank you all so much for your relentless dedication to the news section, whether it be midnight reads, taking stories due the day of or skipping out on class and sleep to cover something that would otherwise go unnoticed or went until 6 a.m. Each of you has never failed to impress me and I’m so thankful to leave the news section in such capable hands. Watch out UCSB, these five are a force to be reckoned with.

Now that these two years that once felt like they would never end are actually, terrifyingly, coming to a close, I realize how much I hate saying goodbye. More than anything, more than the work I did or classes I took, I’ll miss my crazy, hilarious, beautiful, brilliant, sleep-deprived family. This paper and all the wonderful people who are a part of it has given me more of a home than I ever could have asked for.

Auf wiedersehen, see you again,

Peter Mounteer,

Outgoing Daily Nexus News Editor

 

A version of this story appeared on page 8 of Thursday, June 4, 2015’s print edition of the Daily Nexus.

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