My first semester at Grinnell, I didn’t know how to get involved with The S&B, even though I came to college thinking I wanted to be a journalist. I remember sending an email to someone on staff asking to take an article during the first week of classes, and I found myself writing a preview of the upcoming football season for the sports section.

After that article, I still never got the memo that there were weekly writer’s meetings on Sundays. I also missed that I was supposed to get paid for the article that I wrote. So I went through most of my first year in the dark about how to work for The S&B. Until sometime in March of 2017, when I fell into taking photos for a few reviews that Jack Marchesi ’20 had been assigned. We were tasked with evaluating some of Grinnell’s seedier establishments, like the vape shop and the tattoo parlor.

I spent the last couple months of first year writing my first real pieces for The S&B. By May, I was offered the sports editor job for the coming fall—always the hardest position to fill on staff. From there, I went on to edit arts and news, writing the occasional story along the way. When I got the offer from Max Fenton ’19 and Candace Mettle ’19 to co-edit the paper with Tommy O’Donnell ’20, one of my best friends at Grinnell, I could not have been more thrilled.

But more than chronologizing my time at The S&B, I would like to take this space to thank the countless friends I made over the past few years. Writing and editing for The S&B led to befriending people who I never would have met otherwise. I have gotten to know both the campus and the city of Grinnell (my hometown, by the way), in more meaningful ways than I could have imagined when I first showed up on campus.

Now, if I can use this final piece of S&B writing as a platform for anything, I would like to remind the Student Government Association (SGA), Student Publications and Radio Committee (SPARC) and especially the Grinnell College administration that The S&B has unquantifiable value. It remains the only consistent online news platform in Poweshiek County. Whether the College conducts classes online or face-to-face next year, never forget that we have a readership. A readership which, I might remind you, consists of more than Grinnell College tuition-payers and donors. They will be counting on The S&B to deliver a critical public service.

I am excited that Tommy and I have handed the reins to Zoe Fruchter ’21 and Seth Taylor ’21. The S&B is, as they say, in good hands. It feels underwhelming to say that it’s been a pleasure working with everyone over the years. And while I don’t know about that first-year dream of becoming a journalist, I do know that I haven’t regretted being a journalist at The S&B.