To the Reader:
Thank you.
We owe everything to the Andover community. Andover is unique in its explicit trust in us, its students, to uphold the responsibility of running an uncensored, independent student newspaper. We owe all that we take pride in publishing every week—the gorgeous photos, provocative Commentary pieces, in-depth feature articles—to the talent, the strength, the beauty and the depth of the community we live in.
So in The Phillipian CXXXVII’s final editorial, we want to say thank you, Andover. Thank you for challenging us to grow as journalists, to learn good judgment and to become fluent in InDesign. Thank you for teaching us how to juggle academics, sports, a social life and our passions. Thank you for sparking our editorial talks, fueling our arguments and pushing us to our limits and dragging us back. Thank you for bringing this ragtag group together and letting us grow: for trusting us, for letting us fall and teaching us how to pick ourselves up again.
Thank you, Nina, for being our anchor. Thank you for being the one person we can call at one a.m., for never judging our tears and for being our mother in the darkest of times. Thank you for defending us when we hardly knew what we were doing, for fighting for us without a question and for lighting the way until the very end. Thank you, Neil, for always bracing the blizzard for us, for listening and for your patience.
Thank you to our friends for understanding; to our house counselors for forgiving our absence in the dorms and for drying our tears; to our parents for listening, trusting and loving from a distance; to the administration for their steady support.
Thank you to those that came before us–for supporting the endowment campaign, for protecting our freedom of speech and for paving the way. Thank you to CXXXVI, for teaching us everything that we know and for believing in us. We are all but a drop of water, a whisper, an echo in the life of The Phillipian, and our only hope can be that we have bettered its legacy in some way.
And lastly, thank you to CXXXVIII. We have watched you grow from writers to associates, emerging today as confident, capable and kind editors. The brightness in your eyes, the buzzing excitement in the newsroom every night and your unfaltering drive seem all too familiar–we could not leave The Phillipian in better hands, and we so look forward to the greatness that will come from your work.
This is your show now. We offer only a few final words advice:
“Savor it. The moments when I’ve loved The Phillipian the most have been those when it’s been the hardest and most consuming. Embrace The Phillipian, for both the lonely, endless nights brought on by too many hours of editing and too few of studying, and the enduring moments of ecstasy sparked by things big and small. ” –P. Alie
“Realize that, although it seems like a real job, you are working iwth your peers. These are the people you see on the paths and in the dorms every day: don’t forget that..” –C. Li
“Don’t quit.” –J. Lane
“Surround yourself with people that make you laugh.” –L. Grossbard
“Never be afraid to fight with your editors or fall in love with your work. Always look out for one another and yourselves. Take what you can do your best with it–and try not to forget me.” –G. Tully
“Putting in positive energy usually means you get some back, and you want to take advantage of your 29 weeks of covenant as much as possible… You can do a lot of good with The Phillipian, so think about what you want to change early — it goes by too fast.” –R. Iyer
“Have fun. Work hard, make a good paper, but don’t take yourselves too seriously.” –N. Hornik.
“Believe in yourself,, but don’t believe yourself alone. Reach out to those closest to you, and enjoy the great task of living together.” –A. Jiang
“When you have one more roll of the proverbial dice, choose to roll. Sometimes it feels good to care about something.” –A. Zheng.
“Smile a lot. It’s a simple thing that often goes unappreciated. The greatest sense of fulfillment in the newsroom will ultimately come from enabling ohers to find their own. And it all starts with a smile.” R. Brigden
“‘Cause I clock Gs while you clock Zs’—LL Cool J” –E. Blum
“1. Everything looks better with the lights off. 2. Don’t do too much homework on Saturday night. 3. Own up to your mistakes. 4. Buy Spotify premium and dance to Lady Gaga. 5. Consume artichoke pizza. 6. ‘Truth Above All’ should be ‘Trust Above All.’ Your biggest priority is earning trust.” –P. Gould
“Be strong.” –J. Chen
All our love,
The Phillipian Senior Editorial Board CXXXVII
