Editor’s Desk: Endings

This is my first edition of the column that is passed down from editor-in-chief to editor-in-chief. 

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot are endings — something so inseparable from life itself. As I see my first year as a member of The Loyola Phoenix staff coming to an end, I’m fortunate enough to have one more year ahead of me, with which I plan to do so much.

Traditionally, the primary focus of these has been for the editor-in-chief to write about themselves. Secondarily, those around them.

Readers of The Phoenix will have all year to hear about me, so I’m going to talk about the latter, with those leaving The Phoenix.

I am taking this role over from Nicky Andrews, a graduating multimedia journalism and criminal justice major. 

Just days after she hired me as her managing editor, she told me I had no choice but to be her best friend. She was mostly joking about the fact we would constantly be working side-by-side, but it turns out she was right.

Andrews will be leaving huge Converse — or Dr. Martens — to fill, and I will be forever grateful for the example she set as editor-in-chief.

From the sports section, Fernando Molina Bier and Gabbi Lumma constantly impressed me with the way they carried themselves and consistently produced stories that made me feel something beyond the turf or hardwood. The trust they placed in themselves, their writers and myself is something that I will be forever grateful for.

Jacob Danielson has been a consistent source of peace in the newsroom. For the past semester, Andrews, Danielson and I have been lugging hundreds of newspapers around Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. Needless to say, there’s no one I would have rather sit with while waiting in a loading dock than him.

Our audio editor August Toevs joined The Phoenix just this spring but was immediately one of the coolest, kindest and most talented people I’ve ever met. I know, for a fact, he is a person who I will never forget.

Natalie Koetsier, our copy editor, constantly brought a warmth and joy to meetings when I would check in on how everyone was. Running social media, Nick Cruz was always ready to help and check in on how I was doing, and I’m excited to run into him until he graduates in the fall.

A lot is coming to an end, but so much has just begun.

Ella Govrik will be taking over as managing editor. Aside from being one of my best friends, I often find myself falling short compared to her attention to detail, passion for the paper and commitment to accuracy. 

The rest of our returning staff and writers are all people who I have a deep respect and appreciation for.

I have a lot of ideas for the upcoming school year — the least to say The Phoenix will not look the same as it has in years past. 

I’m excited, and I hope you are, too. See you in the fall.