To say that I am excited to be the co-editor-in-chief of The Lion’s Roar for my last semester at Southeastern would be an understatement. This position has been a two-year-long goal of mine that required hard work and dedication to obtain.

Deciding to join Student Publications was a decision I absolutely do not regret and am thankful for every day. I signed up for the job through a tabling advertisement the staff had in the Student Union, and if I had not been in that place on that day, I very well may not have applied to this job at all. Two years after that meeting, I am co-running the only student job I’ve ever wanted at Southeastern and I would not trade that opportunity for the world.

There are many individuals I would like to thank for this opportunity. The former editors-in-chief who have guided me to this point: Gerard Borne, Brynn Lundy, and especially Symiah Dorsey. I’d also like to thank Mrs. Lorraine Peppo and Dr. Chelsea Slack for being our bosses and being there for us every day we need them. 

They do their best to make sure we do our best every single week for you, the reader. I’d especially like to thank my fellow editor-in-chief Chloe Williams and our sports editor Chase Gispert. The three of us joined The Lion’s Roar at the same time, and I am very happy and grateful to be able to end my Lion’s Roar career co-leading with these two at my side.

A major final thank you goes out to every staff reporter on our team, past and present. Through my two years of working for The Lion’s Roar, I have seen many faces come and go as a part of our team, but one thing that never changes for our staff is that we all make the job so much more enjoyable with what we bring to the table. I have all the faith in the world that these reporters are going to do great things this next semester and beyond.

The future is uncertain, but I am very thankful for the chance to make our school newspaper the best it can be. This job has shaped me in many ways, from meeting great people and allowing me to be more outgoing, to even helping me realize I wanted to pursue a minor in communication. I feel I would be a much different person without this job and now that I have an opportunity to keep making our online newspaper better, I plan to work to my greatest potential and help the rest of our team reach their greatest potentials as well.