Finals week is approaching and everyone is in the library crunching for tests and presentations, and wrapping up their semester. This is my favorite time of the semester – everything is coming together, everyone is scrambling and summer is on its way.

I am really looking forward to this summer although I am feeling a little nostalgic about the past school year. It has been an amazing year despite all of the obstacles I have had to deal with. Although there were a few problems, what stands out most to me is how amazing everyone has done on the paper this year. I am so proud of Student Media and all that we have done, and I am proud to have been a part of these transitions.

In October we switched to a new website company, Town News. October was not a good time to switch over, but really no time is good. This was a huge obstacle for us – starting from scratch and still worrying about the print edition and the yearbook, and keeping everything timely at the same time – but we did it. All that hard work paid off because we received second place for our website at the Kansas Collegiate Media conference last month. This is amazing because the only other school in Kansas that beat us was the University of Kansas. This is something to be excited about.

We’ve gone through changes in structure, payroll difficulties and a huge turnover rate in the CORE and Senior Staff. Usually writers and photographers come and go, but the CORE and Senior Staff stays the same. This year, with structure and payroll changes, we have lost some positions while gaining others. This has been a struggle, but hopefully the organization has learned from its mistakes and next year these problems won’t exist. Of course other problems will arise, but I am hoping that everything we have worked toward this year will reflect on next year and it will have all been for something.

So this is my last week as editor in chief but I plan to come back in the fall to write stories for the Kaw, online and print. This year has been a wonderful learning opportunity for me and I will miss it. I could have done without some of the drama that consumed a lot of my time in the fall semester but without it some of the changes made wouldn’t have been made. Everything happens for a reason.

I remember the first production night at The Review. I was so nervous. I was worried something would go wrong or I would miss something incredibly obvious. After the first night went smoothly, I felt a little better but knew we had a long way to go. Now that I have (almost) made it through the year, I look back and laugh. Now I am not nervous. I am confident we will get the paper out on time and that everyone will be happy with the content. If I gained nothing else, the confidence is worth it.

So keep picking up the paper, I know I will. Check out the website and let us know what you think.