KATIE PAFF

I can’t believe it has been four years. I first stepped into The Daily newsroom before I had even started at the UW. I was a high-school senior, and I tagged along with a former Daily editor and staffer, Melissa Santos, who had agreed to show me around campus. When I told her I wanted nothing more than to be a journalist, she took me straight to the newsroom, where I was simultaneously shocked and in awe of its graffitied orange walls.

I remember the first story I ever wrote: I had barely begun my first quarter as a freshman, but the then arts editor Raven Avery took a chance on me and assigned me to write a profile piece about Faraz Zarghami, former ASUW arts and entertainment director. As they say, the rest is history. Since then, I have written for The Daily every single quarter, for all sections, including a quarter as arts editor myself.

I have so many memories since then — some good, some bad, some bittersweet. My academic performance undoubtedly declined steadily as my involvement with The Daily grew, but it was OK because I was doing what I loved. I remember internal debates with myself, along the lines of: “Should I write my paper or my feature?” Naturally, The Daily normally came first. I remember writing on deadline, surviving on caffeine and adrenaline and panicking when sources didn’t call me back on time. I probably seemed like a phone stalker to many a source, actually.

Juggling The Daily with school has been a challenge, but one that I wouldn’t take back for the world. Looking back, I think I probably thrived on the pressure. Most of the time, I worked a part-time job, wrote for The Daily and took a full course load. I must say, I definitely felt superior inside to many of my fellow students who didn’t work at all. I feel like if I didn’t have all of those things going on at once, I would have felt lazy or that I wasn’t being challenged enough. It pushed me to become better at time management, something which has always been hard for me as I am a procrastinator to the core.

As I worked my way through the journalism major at the UW, I soon realized that my passion in journalism lay in politics. Having had several internships, including one at a newspaper in Washington, D.C., I knew that my dream was to one day become a successful political reporter. This year, I had the opportunity to write a political opinion column during winter and spring quarters, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it. Not only did I get to use it as a pulpit for my views ­— which I am known for and love to share — but I grew as a writer and got some tremendous practice for the future. I am so thankful to Natalie Sikavi for giving me this opportunity, and it has probably been the highlight of my Daily career.

I would like to thank the following people who have been Daily staffers at some point during my time at the UW: Raven Avery, Amy Rolph, Blythe Lawrence, Anna Earnest, Erinn Unger, Sarah Jeglum and of course, Kristin Millis, our fabulous publisher. I know that my involvement with The Daily has helped me grow tremendously during my four years here. My involvement helped me find a niche and a community at an enormous university, and I am so thankful for it. I will miss The Daily and everyone there tremendously, and I will certainly be reading online long after I graduate.

NATALIE SIKAVI

Thank you, Will Mari for bringing me into The Daily. I transferred to the UW last year, and for those of you who know what it’s like to transfer, you know how easy it is to get lost in the shuffle.

Being a columnist for The Daily gave me a name; it gave me a face that was recognizable to anyone who opened the paper to Page 4 every Thursday.

As much as I loved being a columnist, succeeding Will as the opinion editor has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. My job shifted from voicing my opinion to helping others present the best argument possible and being careful to keep my opinion in check.

Although speculations about my worldview have been blogged about extensively, following the great Daily scandal of Thanksgiving weekend 2008, it’s safe to say that most people, including my columnists, still don’t have a clue. And that’s a sign that I’ve learned a lot about being an editor from The Daily.

So thank you, The Daily of the University of Washington, “the student voice,” for teaching me so much. And thank you to all of my wonderful columnists who have worked so hard all year and have taught me so much. You have all contributed to me growing as an editor, and it’s truly rewarding to see all of you mature and advance in your writing.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone in the newsroom for making the long hours and hard weekends together so enjoyable for me. Even though I’m teased profusely, and Daily wall posts tend to embarrass me more times than not, the UW would not have been the same had I not spent half of the time sitting behind this broken computer. I wish I could get more specific, but “senioritis” and writer’s block has gotten the best of me. I love you all.

SARAH JEGLUM

I guess I never thought this day would actually come: writing a parting shot, saying goodbye and sending the paper one last time.

It’s here, however, and it will move past just like every other day. But even after this day is gone, I’ll remember the good times, long nights and challenging tasks I faced in my four years at The Daily.

I learned many things while here within the orange walls — some more useful than others. I learned how not to nurture a young cherry tree back to health; how to cook a great microwavable dinner; how to do the electric slide to country music; how to piece a paper back together at midnight after the server crashed; how to talk to PR agents; how to use InDesign; how to get by without sleep; how to quickly become an expert in something I wasn’t previously an expert in; how to think one day ahead; and last but not least, how to stand up for what I believe in.

Here’s to everyone who has supported me:

Mike at Pacific: I’ll miss talking to you on the phone at the end of every night. I’ve never met you, but I know that you’ve helped me get through.

Kristin: Thank you for never giving me the answer, but instead guiding me to find the right one. I don’t think I would have made it without shedding a few tears behind your office door. Thank you.

Erinn: You’ve put up with me through a lot, but you always knew how to solve my problems. Thanks for the late nights, fun days and the midnight pasta, and thanks for being the kind of leader I couldn’t be.

Colleen: I’ve been in this with you for longer than almost anyone, and I want you to know that having you here has been a comfort to me. You are brilliant, and you’ll make a fabulous managing editor. Just remember to breathe.

Vicky: Remember how things used to be? You sitting across from me and frantically writing whatever it was I needed for news the next day? You’ve come so far, and you’ve brought this paper to a new level. Don’t ever stop doing what you do.

Natalie: You are one of the bravest people I know.

Kat: We have a secret. Don’t ever show anyone.

Parisa: I wish you had come out of nowhere sooner than you did. You have a brilliant eye for journalism, so just keep following your instincts.

Randy: I know you might never come back to The Daily, but thank you for being such a constant during winter quarter. I look up to you — more than just literally.

Casey: You are underappreciated, and I’m the first culprit. You have made the news section respectable and relevant, and that’s not a small feat. Remember, when you’re put in command, take charge. You’ll be great.

Arla: You’re off now doing amazing things, and does that surprise anyone? Thank you for your support fall quarter. You were my rock.

Chris: I couldn’t bring myself to write something to you that was not a complete sentence. Remember, when it gets to the end of the story, the delete button is your friend.

Lexie: I don’t think you know just how much you add to our newsroom every day. Remember, always do what’s right for you, not anybody else. Oh, and try to go home on time.

Amy Korst: You’ve been off being amazing for a long time now, but I never forget how you and the rest of the staff helped make me what I am today. Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my time in this magical place. To all the future Daily staff members, remember that you have the stories of the world on your shoulders, and that isn’t something to take lightly. It’s been fun.

ERINN UNGER

I wandered into The Daily offices during spring quarter 2007. I picked up an application and circled “editorial,” not knowing what it meant and what I was getting into. Immediately, I was introduced to Kristin, the publisher, who was very cheerful and eager to have me at The Daily. In fact, she and the staff were so cheerful and eager to have me that I got flustered and left, promising to return my application within the day. I did.

My nervousness indicates to me that perhaps, even then, I did have an inkling of what I was getting into.

When I began as editorial assistant winter quarter 2008, I often worked late into the night. It’s not that I had to; I just had a difficult time leaving. I’ve always felt like I belonged, like I had joined some sort of strange tribe. I wrote sidebars and information boxes that would be conspicuously absent from the paper in the morning, but I didn’t mind because I had been able to hang out with the coolest people I knew, had been helpful in creating a beautiful thing filled with beautiful words and information, and really had a purpose for the first time in my college career.

Five quarters later, I’m graduating in journalism, am managing editor of the paper and will be leaving to work as a reporter in Athens, Greece for the summer. From there, I will move back home to California.

I don’t know when I will be back within these orange newsroom walls — it may be a year, it may be 20. It’s the people within them that matter. So here goes.

Arla: When you asked me to be your managing editor, after just three months in the newsroom, it was like a mother bird pushing her baby chick out of the nest and into the wind. My wings caught an updraft. Thank you.

Kristin: Thanks for grabbing me and not letting go.

Sarah: You were my rock. You trusted me to help you run a newsroom. You nurtured my gut. We shared a vision and an amazing last quarter. Like you always quote your father’s advice, I will always quote yours. I love you. You’re awesome. Get over it.

Colleen: You’re tree-ific.

Vicky: You’re my touchstone.

Parisa, Casey, Randy, Kat, Julian, Eric, Natalie, Patrick, Cliff, Joel, Thom, Whitney, Lexie, Rachel, Christian, Nicole and everyone, everyone, everyone … you’re all troublemakers — but I love you.

WILL MARI

I’ve worked for The Daily since my first quarter at the UW in the fall of 2006.

As a transfer student, I must admit to feeling a little adrift in the vast purple sea that is our university. One of the first places I managed to get anchored, however, was the paper.

As one of a roguish crew of young reporting-pirates-in-training manning the decks of journalism, I have learned more on the job than I have learned in the classroom in more than a few ways. That’s not to say that my journalism classes haven’t been useful — far from it. But the experience of being able to go out there and report, make mistakes, correct those mistakes and then do better next time has made me a better journalist, a better student and, I suspect, a better person.

As Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) once said: “You try to tell me anything about the newspaper business! Sir, I have been through it from Alpha to Omaha, and I tell you that the less a man knows the bigger the noise he makes and the higher the salary he commands.”

Twain was, of course, a newspaperman himself by inclination and vocation. But I wouldn’t necessarily agree about the necessity of knowing less and not more.

Working at The Daily has prepared me to parachute headfirst into the rough-and-tumble “real world” of journalism; in my internships at various publications, I can honestly say that I have felt ready to jump right into whatever assignment I was called upon to do, even if I needed some help to get started, due, in a significant sense, to the confidence I developed while working for the school paper.

At the end of the proverbial day, however, what will matter to me is not the training or even the experience I gained while working at The Daily, but rather the people I worked with and met along the way.

You might have heard this before, but having worked as a reporter, blogger, copy editor, section editor and columnist with dozens of some of the most dedicated and hard-working student journalists I have ever encountered (and some of the toughest journalists, period, I have ever seen), I can honestly say that we are very fortunate to have such a devoted crew laboring on our behalf, every day of the week, to put out a paper, for, by and about us — The Daily.

My peers and I have always thrown themselves fully into the fray to get the news. Yes, of course, we make mistakes, but that’s why we learn. From Sarah Jeglum, the current editor-in-chief and the person who hired me to the five editors of my “Will’s Word” column over the years to the current staff, some of whom include some of my best UW friends, I will always be proud to say that I worked at The Daily.

Besides my coworkers, the other hugely important part of being at the paper, for me at least, has been the people I’ve interviewed. Not everyone has been thrilled, of course, to get a phone call or e-mail from a pesky cub reporter, but I can say that the vast majority of the people at the UW that I’ve interviewed have at least tried to answer my questions, and, in several cases, have proved to be fascinating interview subjects, such as Bill Zoller in the chemistry department. Professor Zoller lost his short-term memory after a horrific car crash, but he battled back, thanks to his faith and unmatched dedication to his students, returning to the classroom less than a year later.

Telling stories such as Zoller’s has encouraged me to continue my pursuit of journalism, one way or another. I’ll be around this summer after I graduate, working for the summer Daily, so you’ll see me a little more. But I just want to take the opportunity to thank you all for reading; it’s been my singular honor to be able to serve you, and I look forward to being able to do so, in some capacity, in the future.

As Roy Howard, the chairman of Scripps-Howard Newspapers put it, for the journalist, “No date on the calendar is as important as tomorrow.”

WHITNEY LITTLE

When I started my first week at The Daily, I hated it so much that I flipped to a month away in my planner and wrote: “If you still don’t like it, you can quit.” I can’t imagine a better college experience.

I have attended protests, met provosts, been hit with a basketball (right in front of Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck) and learned to fire a gun. I climbed the outdoor climbing wall, followed around an ASUW president for a day, learned the identity of Harry the Husky and dealt with the Secret Service on more than one occasion. None of this comes close to the relationships — and the passion — I have gained at The Daily. It’s not how you experience life, it’s who you experience it with; I am honored to have lived the majority of my college career vicariously through more than 40,000 people. My fellow Daily coworkers have taught me to value, above all else, the truth. They have taught me to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Yet perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is to never stop questioning, evolving and learning.

Sarah Jeglum: I hope you drive the hell out of that truck. You are one of the most inspiring leaders I have ever met. I know whatever you do will be met with great success.

Matt Lutton: I know you probably will never read this, but thank you for giving me — a photography nerd who only knew darkrooms and manual cameras — one hell of a chance. I know you will change the world with your photographs.

Ethan Welty: You taught me that I could always find something to improve. We should get coffee when we run into each other in France someday.

Vicky Yan: We have come so far on the same boat. I am proud to be able to share Daily war stories with you. Don’t forget.

Colleen and Kat: You two are the reasons I am a designer. Every time I see your pages, I know I still have so far to go. You are both crazy, and I am so happy that it rubbed off on me.

Joel and Shiree: You guys are the reason I am still sane. Thank you for being such amazing friends and reminding me that there is life outside The Daily. I can’t wait to live with you guys next year.

Every photographer I trained: What’s with the tilt? Why did you cut that portion off? Fine, it’ll work.

Will: We still need a dance. Free sometime this summer?

Erinn: You are the most kind-hearted, selfless person I have ever met. I still think you would have made an excellent editor-in-chief. Thanks for the encouragement, the stress relief and the hugs. I strive to be the person you are.

Patrick: I stole your fan.

Editorial: I have never met people with so much heart. You feel everything — tragedy and success — with such a strength that I know that is why our paper is one of the best in the nation. Never stop.

This is the legacy we leave behind.

JOE DARDA

At The Daily, I covered arts — and nothing else.

I didn’t do any so-called “investigative journalism.” I didn’t write about budget cuts, U-District violence, Proposition 8 or Sonia Sotomayor. My articles weren’t “hard-hitting.”

What I did, by and large, was review things: movies, albums, restaurants, books. I shared my — often questionable — opinion on greasy spoon cuisine, crappy indie films and books that took far too long to read for a $20 paycheck.

But let’s get real: You didn’t read these articles.

Skimming The Daily between classes, what you saw was the reductionistic five-star rating just below the title. You would then either nod or mutter “idiot” before tossing the paper on a Red Square bench, a HUB table or the bathroom floor.

Therefore, to better hold your attention, I will review my college experience in the same way I would Terminator Salvation or Pizza Ragazzi.

Freshman year: 1.5 stars

The calculus sequence made me question my “college preparedness,” and I spent way, way too much time on DC++.

The dorms: 3 stars

My Haggett Hall double had a silverfish problem, and my first roommate moved back to Utah on the third day of classes. I did, however, meet some good people. Also, the bathrooms magically cleaned themselves every night.

Campus dining: 2 stars

I wouldn’t recommend any dining-hall entrees, but the pastries are good — that freshman-fifteen, sugar-hangover kind of good.

The U-District: 3.5 stars

I don’t know that I would live here as a known student, but as far as convenience, pho restaurants and Real Change availability go, it’s tough to beat.

Lectures, professors, textbooks and all that academic stuff: 4 stars

If I owned the DeLorean from Back to the Future, I would drive straight back to September 2005 and enroll at the UW all over again. I would not, however, register for Math 125.

My majors (English and psychology): 4 stars

I don’t know what these BAs are good for, but I did enjoy the coursework. Also, although I don’t have a real job, thanks to 65 psychology credits, I now know that what I am currently experiencing is a psychological state known as “anxiety.”

The Daily: 4.5 stars

I had a great time. Thanks, Kristin, Sarah, Julian, Maddie, Cliff, Bon, Shiree, Joel, Vicky, Allen, Celeste, Casey, Colleen, Natalie, Nicole, David, Lexie and everyone else in the newsroom. I’m docking a half-star because my computer was always broken.