Anusha Singh / Daily Nexus

I’ve been procrastinating writing this. 

Not because I haven’t thought of what to say, or what I didn’t want to say, or because I didn’t deem it necessary to write — I’ve just been avoiding it. Writing this article, this last article, is concrete proof that a beautiful chapter is ending. Who would jump at the chance to write that?

For the sake of not crying until the end of this article, I will start reminiscing on a very naive 17-year-old Kira and all of her firsts, before I get to the lasts.

I first joined the Daily Nexus the fall of my freshmen year. Actually, I emailed them the summer before I came to UC Santa Barbara, essentially begging them to let me write. I scoped the name out at every tabling event before school started, sparkles in my eyes as I dreamt of writing for a college newspaper. I would be Rory Gilmore come to life, I thought.

Once all of the different sections were presented to me at orientation, I knew I wanted to join Opinion. Tail between my legs, I approached their table, got added to the Slack, and felt like a Very Official Newspaper Woman. My first article, Nail polish and pillow fights: What girlhood taught me about love, is now something I would never publish. I read it and wince, I correct my storytelling abilities and my anecdotes, and I can tell how young I am. However, its presence is safe in the everlasting archive of the Daily Nexus; and for that, I am grateful. 

I attended the writer’s meetings with a notebook and a pen, feeling lucky to get the chance to listen to Very Official Newspaper People (a.k.a., fourth years). I kept writing, only feeling more motivated every time I stepped into the Daily Nexus office. If you’ve never had the privilege to spend any time in there: 1. I’m sorry 2. I’ll explain it to the best of my ability. 

Empty beer cans line the walls, old newspaper pages are taped to the wood and hung above the very old, very gross and very cozy couches, there are old desktops that line the desks and different offices to wander into. What has become my home for the past year and a half is all the way to the back of the office on the right side: the opinion office.

The opinion office has its own couch, fairy lights, old opinion articles pinned above the computer, old awards and photos and notes from previous editors and an overwhelming amount of love.

I’ve made both a metaphorical and physical home in that room. It’s perfect for people watching, the chairs are just the right height to rest my feet on the desk and lean back while I take a call, and I’ve had countless long nights under the fairy lights, under Storke Tower. 

How wonderful is it to have somewhere other than your house to call home? To open a door and know that people will be excited to see you? What was once anxiety and nervousness every time I would open the door to the office (circa my freshmen year), has transformed into excitement and comfort. 

I’ve gotten a routine down. I come in for print night every Tuesday to see the exact same people in their exact same spots. What we end up talking about spans from love lives to family drama to thesis projects, but our eagerness to share our lives with one another stays the same. 

I feel lucky to work in a place that has allowed me to find some of my best friends. My connections with them are to be evergreen, and fortunate to have met over our shared passion. 

Next in line must come the thank you’s.

Anusha Singh, you light of a human. Despite me being intimidated by you in our first encounter, you’re simply the kindest soul and an even better Editor-in-Chief. Please never stop being hilarious.

Shayla Prasad, your smile makes my heart warm. Every Tuesday night I look forward to your gasp of excitement and subsequent hug. I’ll never forget when we decided to text my ex with a picture of you. 

Lucy Dixon, oh how lucky I’ve been to have you as my co-editor. Everything you write turns to gold and I can still feel phantom pains of my stomach hurting from laughing so hard. Never change.

Piper Cheney, what are the odds we meet so coincidentally? I will always remember sitting on your desk as you make your page, us giggling and doing our jobs slowly so we could spend more time together. I don’t know what lucky star heard my wish, but I’m so happy it brought me to you.

To the new tenants of the opinion office, Narineh Madikians and Dylan Hunter, I can see how bright the future is for the two of you. Please keep calling me on Tuesday nights if you have any questions. 

Mom, thank you for being my first and favorite reader for all of my articles. I never get more excited than when I send you a link to my article for you to read. The Lorelai to my Rory.

My roommates, all seven of you, for boasting for me and being so supportive of my articles. Nothing makes me happier than coming home and seeing 10 copies of the Daily Nexus flipped to the Opinion page with my article sprawled open. 

The lasts are here. I have led my last Opinion meeting, where I made everyone rate my Instagram and showed music videos, with all the love in my heart. I made my last page, with Lucy, Narineh and Dylan by my side, in the office that I love. I will, pretty soon, enter the Daily Nexus office for the last time. Say hello and goodbye for the last time. I understand that everything comes to an end, but boy am I white-knuckling this ending. 

I will move on to a new newsroom and I will meet new people. I’ll find someone whose laugh sounds like Lauren’s, whose face looks like Andrew’s, whose humor reminds me of Faith. Everyone and everything will stay with me as I move on, and so it goes.

As I graduate, and as the Daily Nexus morphs and changes as it always does, I hope above all else, I am memorialized as an Oxford comma apologist. 

Kira Logan wants to stay another four years.