A lot can happen in four years.
But most of the time, it felt like we saw the events of Ohio University and Athens unfold from an especially lucky vantage point.
As the editors, reporters, photographers, copy editors and designers of The Post, our college lives seemed to start in the windowless newsroom of Baker Center 325. Naturally, that’s where we made the newspaper. That sure ate up a lot of our time. But it’s also where we met some of our best friends, ate meals off closed laptops lids and brushed our teeth those nights we knew wouldn’t be crawling into a warm bed.
That’s not to say we never had any fun. We’ll graduate remembering fest season — as both attendees and reporters — concerts and late nights Uptown. But we’ll also remember some of the unconventional things: waking up to cover a fire on West Union Street, covering trials at the Athens County Common Pleas Court or chasing down sources Uptown and across campus.
Still, we’ll exit Ohio University exactly how we entered it: lovable — and maybe a little annoying — journalism nerds.
So before we go, here’s what we’d like to say “thank you” for:
- For the vending machine near the Student Senate office, because that was the only place where we could get food inside Baker most nights.
- For Front Room, for supporting our caffeine addictions and only being one flight of stairs from the newsroom.
- For the professors who understood a Postie’s tired face and haggard expression, and knew that if we got up and left during class, it was definitely for breaking news.
- For all of the underclassmen who swiped us into the dining hall or lent us flex points during late nights — or anytime, really.
- For our parents, friends and family who went long spans of time without hearing from us. And when we did return your calls, they were short and probably cut off because we had to go to budget.
- And speaking of budget, thanks to the Baker staff for unlocking countless doors for us.
- To the lovely custodial staff for cleaning our wretched newsroom and for giving us a smile during budget meetings held in Baker stairwells.
- For our past Post editors, who intimidated us, inspired us and helped blaze a path that got us to where we are today.
- To Counseling and Psychological Services (and other respective therapists) for helping us manage the pressure and keeping our mental health from deteriorating too far.
- To all the professors who allowed us to use Post assignments for class projects.
- To the City of Athens, for being the most perfect, picturesque college town.
- To Pumpkin the cat, for being the unofficial Lil’ Sebastian (or mascot, if that reference makes no sense) of Athens and for instantly cheering us up just by sleeping in front of a window.
- To places like Avalanche Pizza, Goodfella's and Wings Over, which are open until the wee hours of the morning and helped keep us going late at night.
- For the internship coordinators who believed in us.
- For the non-journalism friends who tolerated us talking about current events at the bars. We know it was horrible.
- For Schoonover Center, our home away from home if we ever found ourselves working away from the newsroom.
- For friends who were understanding, period.
- For The Post. We wouldn’t have understood and empathized with amazing people. We wouldn’t have learned some of life’s most difficult lessons. We simply wouldn’t be without this beautiful corner of Baker Center.
