Marcia Ratliff/ Winonan

It’s a little weird for me to be writing a letter to the editor, because for the past three-and-a-half years I have been employed at the Winonan in some way.

But now, with my graduation speeding up in front of me like the end of a dock above a deep blue lake, I have passed the torch to my successor, Julia Sand, who will be Editor-in-Chief next year.

So I have reached the end of my run with the Winonan. And I think endings are the prime time to say something I do not say nearly enough: thank you.

To my editing staff this year—you all could not have been a better team. We faced some challenges, including revamping our print product, hiring a young writing staff, having a young editing staff, moving out of our old office into a much smaller space, and of course making it out of the office before 11 on Monday nights.

All these challenges could have been absolutely hellacious, but because of your support and ability to laugh in the face of danger, the Winonan has come through as a much stronger paper. I, surprisingly, have come through with a firm grip on my sanity.

Hannah, your one-liners made me cry. So did your cupcakes. Abby, you lamented the death of every Oxford comma. I do use. Caitlin, you juggled a heroic amount of jobs and managed to work around a bewitched email inbox. Julia, you made us all laugh when you missed that first meeting, and you haven’t forgotten one since. Alyssa, you are the reigning awkward space champion. As in, Alyssa 1- awkward space 0.

To my business staff—Claudia, Sally and Jolene. You all jumped into very loosely-defined jobs with both feet and kept going all year/semester. Thank you for your energy and persistence.

And, for the wonderful support of my advisers—Tom Grier, Tracy Rahim and Joe Reed. Professor Grier, your input and ideas were extremely valuable as I learned the ropes. Tracy, you made some sticky budget situations less sticky and helped us get to where we are today. Joe, you got us a splendid office and some shiny new keys.

And a shout out to Steve Fix, who rocks at locating lost Winonans and/or Winonan editors…

This is it, folks. I’m gonna go camping.