Maddy Fangio / Daily Nexus

Dearest Nexus Reader, 

My name is Pricila Flores and I served as the Daily Nexus editor in chief for the past year. As I look toward graduation (and unemployment), I find myself always returning to a pillar of stability during my four years at UC Santa Barbara  — my time at the Daily Nexus. 

Before serving as editor in chief, I was the first co-chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Daily Nexus. My experience and passion for diversifying the newsroom led me to create my pride and joy, La Vista, the Spanish section of the paper. And for three years I have watched it flourish into a space for important news accessible to the Spanish-speaking community and a creative medium for Latine students on campus. 

As I geared up for election night, I reflected on my experience juggling different roles within the organization and felt strongly about my commitment to continue uplifting the Nexus. On the night of the Daily Nexus editor in chief elections, the campus was consumed with May gray, fitting for the anxiety pooling in my stomach. During election night, candidates are asked questions regarding the platform they are running on. I ran on a platform aimed at increasing our digital and multimedia projects. Even though I knew every face in the room, it was terrifying. 

But by 7 p.m. on April 27, 2023, I was the head of a 93-year-old newspaper. 

Ensue chaos. My Tuesday evenings were spent in the perpetually damp basement of Storke Tower, until the early mornings.

And on those nights, when the clock strikes midnight and I am on the verge of screaming at InDesign, one thing reminds me of why I do this job. The very people that fill the pages of the paper you are holding. Student journalists. We have the unique position of living right in the middle of where the news happens. And right now, student journalists are more important than ever. We are seeing the dedication and work put forth by student journalists at UCLA, Columbia University and many other schools as they cover protests and political tension on and off campus. Who else would know the school’s community as well as they do? No one. And with that comes a trust between the community. It makes the news less scary knowing that a reporter is also in your 2 p.m. class every week. Watching Sindhu Ananthavel, Michelle Cisneros, Anushka Ghosh Dastidar, Alex Levin, Asumi Shuda and Lizzy Rager work tirelessly to bring you the most accurate and recent updates on on-campus movements is inspiring. 

And in turn, we are historians for UC Santa Barbara. Everything we write and produce gets put into an archive for student journalists to look at for years. A wall in our office is filled with archives dating back to the 1940s. And I am grateful that you continue to choose the Daily Nexus as your on-campus news source. We have been at the forefront of it all, to bring you the most accurate stories. 

Every Tuesday as I check in with staff during print night, we talk about our weekends, The Bachelor and class assignments we are dreading. I also see every single editor dutifully working away, designing their page. I like to think of it as a labor of love. Here we are putting something together for you to read, gain knowledge from, question and maybe laugh at. 

I like to carry a three-inch black binder around the office full of cool newspaper layouts I’ve seen. I often lose it in the office, but it marks the last place I urged an editor to think outside the box with their layouts. And while sticking to a cut-and-paste layout is easiest, section editors stayed the extra time to create something eye-catching. It made me so happy and proud when editors would call me over saying, “We tried something creative, can you take a look?” I want to jump up and down with excitement. 

Coming into the Nexus, one of my goals was to increase our digital presence. While I love our print editions, the truth is, not very many students were picking them up. But, many people were tuned into our X and Instagram. I am proud of our serious coverage online and being able to showcase our human side as well. I am proud of the traction we have been getting on both platforms; community engagement motivates me to keep going. Serving with this goal in mind has taught me to look past the words on a page. How will it look on social media, can we make it a video, what do people want to see?

But, I can’t make a story into a multimedia one without our passionate writers who chase the stories. I always think back to the saying many professors and editors have said — we can teach you AP Style but not passion. Our writers bring forth stories we would have never known about. 

It feels strange to leave a role after struggling to find my footing and finally finding my purpose at the Nexus. I leave behind La Vista, whose continuation would not have been possible without Mari Villalpando-Ortega and Angelica Monroy. For a whole year my life revolved around the creation of the Spanish section but your passion and teamwork made it easy to hand it off to you both. 

Thank you, Olive Howden, for being my right-hand woman and supporting me in all endeavors and crazy ideas. 

Mina Orlic, whose creativity and passion will be missed greatly. There is no one else I can geek out over newspaper layout designs with.  

Aidan Dobbins, Melody Xu, Abby Wolf and Bridget Weingart, your drive and responsiveness took the online presence of the Daily Nexus to great heights. 

My housemates, Gisele Anderson, Julia Dahl and Paige Lund for listening to me brainstorm ideas and being a supportive shoulder. 

Reily Kirkpatrick for, without fail, walking me home after print every week so that I would not walk home alone at midnight. 

And of course, my successors, Amitha Bhat and Emily Yoon, your tenacity and determination to continue pushing the Nexus through higher ceilings and accomplishments excite me. While I know this role seems daunting, it will chew you up and spit you back out as a changed person. Good or bad? Let me know at the end of your term.  

Being your editor in chief for the past year has been an honor and a privilege. It is an experience I anticipate I will continue to look back to as I leave UC Santa Barbara and pursue my ambitions in the journalism world. 

Thank you to my editorial staff for believing in me. You made my dreams come true. 

Congratulations class of 2024. Stay curious. 

Xoxo,

Pricila Flores