Oh boy, OK I guess we’re doing this.
I started as an editor here two years ago by editing and publishing these very farewell letters from the Vol. 103 editorial board. I had no idea what mine would look like all this time later, and I doubt anything I write can do my time and experience here any justice.
I worked here in some shape or fashion from the semester I stepped foot on this campus. For me, NC State and my college years will always be Technician. It was my community. It shaped the person I am now, and for the better.
Mari Fabian, always my editor, my journey begins and ends because of you. Thank you for entrusting me to take your stead. You irreversibly changed the trajectory of my life. Also, huge shoutout to Elyse Boldizar for not wanting to become the Opinion Editor in Vol. 104 — couldn’t be where I am now without you!
To Jameson Wolf and Emily Vespa, certainly my favorite members of JEE:
Jameson, it’s an interesting dynamic to really look up to someone who’s your own age, but that was certainly how I felt working with you last year. You were a steady, grounding presence fit for someone years your senior. Keep fighting the good fight against the rats in rat city.
Emily, you were my model and inspiration for this job. I sought to bring your spirit and continue your work’s legacy this year. I believe Hemily were the ones who gave me a duck at the tail end of Vol. 103, which, though maybe a small or seemingly inconsequential act, was actually incredibly sincere and made me feel welcome when I absolutely felt like an imposter.
To KEJ, boy wasn’t that fun!
Ethan Bakogiannis, I was joking about the JEE thing. It genuinely feels like I’ve known you all my life. I haven’t laughed with anyone as much as you in, well, I don’t really know how long. We were the greatest managing editor duo to ever grace the Earth. Yin and yang. Curry and Klay. Smegel and Frodo. I don’t know if you have fully clocked it, but you had a profound influence on this publication and deserve immense credit for the shape it’s in today.
Kate, you have become one of my best friends in the last year. It was my delight to serve as your managing editor and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else. You demonstrated again and again that you were the only person for the job, and you consistently met and held a standard no one else could. I do not exaggerate when I say at times you handled things with such conviction and poise that I was left in awe. It’s a shame that you will have to resign in disgrace before the volume turns over. Kind of like the Richard Nixon of Technician I guess. Ethan, of course, is Agnew in this scenario and will also have to resign.
Speaking of editors-in-chief, Skye Crawford is going to take this publication to the moon. Skye, I am immensely proud of you, the things you’ve done and the direction you’re heading. You deserve to be where you are and I have full confidence that you will uphold the values, integrity and tradition of this newspaper. You are an incredible writer and editor, and a better friend. The opinion section will always reign supreme at Technician.
I could write a sonnet singing the praises of every person I’ve worked with for the past four years. Tuesdays are certainly not the envy of the regular work week for regular people, but for the past two years, they have been my most cherished nights. I came to work to escape from the rest of the world; not many have the privilege of saying the same.
Technician is a staple of NC State and incredibly fortunate to have as advanced an apparatus as it does. This is a testament to the many, many people who work here in many different capacities and the talents of our students. I have travelled across the state and country representing this publication, and I can tell you with absolute certainty our university has it much better than others when it comes to student media support. Few student newspapers are able to run a weekly physical print paper, that is if they even print at all. For all the benefits NC State sees from the publication, the community should seek to protect it in its purest form for as long as it runs.
The tradition and drive of students at Technician makes this a unique publication with immeasurable value for our campus and community. To the future editors, writers and readers of Technician, make sure you cherish it. You’ll be glad you did.
With love,
Justin Welch
