Graduation Edition 2020 | Senior Goodbyes

Cover by Abigail Dahl

SUMMER 2020

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hen I was only a young dev W kid, I don’t think I could have conceived how transformative these

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last four years at The Daily would be.

The Daily has been a place to dive into the deep end and learn to swim. When I picked up my first articles, I had to pretend I knew how to confidently ask professors interview questions until one day, I realized it wasn’t as scary as I thought. When I became the wellness editor as a sophomore, I had to pretend I knew how to do a lot of things: edit articles, lead meetings, practice work/ life balance, etc. By spring quarter, I realized I was no longer pretending — except maybe with the work/life balance, still working on that one. This year has been pretty much 12 months

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THE DAILY

Photo by Jenny Riffle

Editor-in-Chief: Summer 2019 - Spring 2020 Managing Editor: Winter 2019 - Spring 2019 Health and Wellness Editor: Fall 2017 - Spring 2018 The Daily: Fall 2016 - Spring 2020 of leaping into the unknown and giving it all I’ve got. Now, as the year comes to a close, I feel confident in trusting my own judgement and the support of The Daily community in ways that I couldn’t have imagined.

Summer, fall, and winter had their challenges — learning how to build community in the newsroom, managing the logistical side of the newspaper, and taking a full course load did, at points, feel impossible — but the impact of the coronavirus on every facet of our lives as students, journalists, and social beings was slightly jarring at the beginning of spring quarter. But with the pandemic, I also observed the resilience of everyone working at The Daily and, though I missed the newsroom, I found myself astounded by what could be achieved from afar. I am so proud of how everyone has adjusted to this quarter, and I hope that it isn’t long before the newsroom can be a community space for you all to hang out again.

To the people who have made my time at The Daily what it has been, I feel deeply grateful. It’s been delightful

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y journey to the Daily started beM fore freshman year. I was touring the UW campus when I came across the

Communication Building and stumbled through the ads door where I was directed to the bright orange newsroom.

I had that awed moment that everyone has when they first see it: walls covered in quotes, tables cluttered with recent editions, people chatting in various corners. The room was buzzing, as it always is. I talked to a few people, but it did not seem like the paper was looking for new designers or illustrators, so I pocketed the idea for a time.

Freshman year went by and I heard little of the paper. I scrambled to figure out what my college life would be like, and what major to pursue. I didn’t have much time to think about extracurriculars, but in the back of my mind, I thought that maybe I would find myself back at The Daily. I felt somewhat lost in the vastness of the UW, overwhelmed by my new major, design. I wanted to find a space in UW’s huge community to call home.

Over the winter break of sophomore year, Monica Neihaus, the design editor at the time, sent out an email to my design cohort, looking for an illustrations editor at The Daily. I wasted no time getting back to her. I had a minimal illustrations background, but Monica was kind and welcoming to me nonetheless.

My “interview” was incredibly lax.

Monica and Rebecca Gross, editorin-chief at the time, sat me down in a

SENIOR GOODBYES

to share time and space with all of you over the past four years.

To Josh, thank you for being a stabilizing force this year. Your support made the harder days easier, and going from being the youngest to the oldest in the newsroom with you has been a blast.

To editors graduating this year — Armon, Lydia, Mo, Hailey, Alec — it’s been awesome spending time working and hanging out with you. Although looking ahead is somewhat hazy, you all inspire me in different ways, and I’m excited to see what you all do.

To our copy chiefs — Sam and Trevor — thank you both for the calm and grounding presence you bring to the newsroom. I always felt like I could trust y’all to be the last eyes on articles and to be thoughtful in the decisions you make.

To the Pacific Wave team — Charlotte, Chamidae, Jenna — working with y’all was one of my favorite parts of the year. Thank you for your creativity, playfulness, and care. I’m excited to see where Pacific Wave goes! To Jenna, thank you for stepping up this quarter to dive into multimedia projects — when we were working on a project together, it felt like anything was possible.

To rising juniors and seniors —

Rachel, Jake, Ash, Kyle, Hannah, Dylan, Billie, Alex, Soraya, Eli, Abby — The Daily is in the best hands I can imagine. It’s been inspiring to see each of you become strong leaders, and I can’t wait to see what you will continue to do with the paper.

To past EICs — Rebecca and Andreas — y’all are some of my best friends, and I appreciate both of your support this year. To Mac, I am so proud of you for leaping into the role of EIC despite the craziness of this moment. I am confident that you have all that you need to do a great job leading The Daily next year, and I will always be a phone call away.

To everyone else who has had an impact on my time at The Daily — Shahbaz, Leslie, Niva, Tim, Monica, Conor, Peyton, Sierra, Claudia, Madelaine — I appreciate you and the times we’ve spent together.

I could keep going, but I guess what I am realizing as I write this senior goodbye is that the opportunities to grow, to build community, to mess up, and to form relationships at The Daily are endless, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.

I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH!

Courtesy of Jenna Shanker

Design Editor: Summer 2018 - Spring 2020 Illustrations Editor: Winter 2018 - Spring 2018 The Daily: Winter 2018 - Spring 2020

chair in the newsroom and casually chatted about The Daily and design. After the chat was done, Rebecca unexpectedly asked me when I could start.

Rebecca and Monica, thank you for taking a chance on me, and for starting my journey at the Daily. My time with you both was short but very impactful.

My first quarter in the newsroom, I sat next to the wellness editor at the time, Mira Petrillo, my first official friend at The Daily. She helped me feel included and welcomed, surrounded by editors who essentially all already knew each other. Mira, I would like to thank you for being my friend from the beginning and for being the most incredible editor-in-chief. It was truly a pleasure being able to spend my last year at The Daily with you as our leader. You are someone I aspire to be like, and are one of the most thoughtful and powerful women that I know. I cannot wait to see what you do from here.

The design position opened up my junior year. As we all know, you don’t always volunteer for an editorial position at The Daily — more like you find yourself in the position after being lightly coerced by the previous editor. I was no exception to this. Monica and Rebecca kindly requested I take over design, and I was excited to say yes.

At the same time, Andreas Redd became editor-in-chief and just like that, we were partnered for the summer and upcoming school year, starting with the beast that is known as Welcome Edition. Andreas, thank you for bearing with me as we both learned about our new jobs while simultaneously organizing all of The Daily’s content. There was never a dull moment working with you, you brought an exciting and vibrant energy to the newsroom that made my first year as design editor all the more enjoyable.

From there, I only became more

comfortable being in the newsroom. I found myself looking forward to meetings, counting the days until the next Hurricane, and inspired by the wealth of information and passion of the people who surrounded me. Two people that mean the most to me in this regard are Manisha Jha and Devon McBride, who became two of my closest friends at The Daily and in general. I cannot even begin to explain how driven and knowledgeable these two people are; they are constantly fighting for what is right. I am forever thankful to them for letting me join them as a friend and inspiring me to follow my passions. Devon, I’m excited to continue seeing your name out there in the political world.

Manisha, please keep doing you, and the world will always be the better for it.

The newsroom can be an arduous place. There’s always more to be done, and I have tremendous admiration for the people that continue to put their time and effort into making The Daily the best it can be, day in and day out.

Sam and Trevor, I have never met people that work harder or longer — or later — than you do. I’d like to thank you both for showing me what work ethic really looks like. You are the most selfless people I have met and I am so happy to call you my friends. I look forward to the many hangouts that will continue to happen, Cafe Racer and beyond. You both have no idea how much you impacted my experience at The Daily. You made my time here infinitely more meaningful; I am grateful for you both.

Design at The Daily can be a huge management and organizational challenge. To Dylan, my partner-in-crime this past school year, thank you for taking on that challenge. You stepped in for me and have a knack for managing people that I probably fell short of at times. You have insane levels of self-motivation and your drive to take initiative is truly inspiring. You made the position much more enjoyable as we were both able to give 100% to our respective responsibilities. I am glad we had the chance to work together, and I’d like to

think we made a great team.

Being able to focus solely on Pacific Wave this past year, I am immensely proud of what the magazine has become. I consider it to be my child and am sad to be leaving it, however could not be more excited for what is to come. Abby, without you, Pacific Wave and the paper would not be what it is today. I am so happy that you joined The Daily as illustrations editor, and I have absolutely no worries leaving the visual side of The Daily in your hands.

It was always a highlight seeing you in the newsroom and being able to connect and discuss our design work beyond The Daily. I wish you the best in the design program and beyond, but have no doubt you will thrive no matter what you do.

Pacific Wave has been a huge project to take on, and I could not have done it without the Pac Wave family. To Alyson, Charlotte and Chamidae, thank you for taking the challenge on with me and for the endless laughs. Your attention to the design process made it an exciting and fun experience each quarter. Working at The Daily from a non-journalism angle is a unique position to be in. I want to shoutout to all the photographers, illustrators, and media editors that work their butts off to give The Daily’s content an extra dimension. Mo and Lydia, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be my desk neighbors. Lydia, I have no doubt your passion for politics and photography will take you far. Mo, thank you for making me laugh and for being a positive energy in the newsroom.

You both made the newsroom a place I looked forward to coming to.

This past quarter posed a lot of new challenges. To all the editors, I think you all did more than anyone would have expected given the circumstance. The Daily has and will continue to inspire me to make a difference and seek wholesome communities in my life. Of all my college experience, The Daily will hands down be the part that I miss the most. I truly cannot believe it is over; it went by in a flash, and I am so thankful for every second of it.

Jo

SENIOR GOODBYES

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’ve been writing this thing in my head for the past four years now.

When I became sports editor as a wide-eyed freshman, it was just a couple of months before I saw my then-senior coworkers put their final thoughts to paper, knowing that four years later — forever, it seemed — it would be my turn. The next year, it happened again, only this time with the first staff I got to work with for a full three quarters, and the reminder came back. Last June, it really hit home.

The Daily has defined my college experience. I’ve gotten to travel across the country, cover countless amazing people and athletes, tell multitudes of stories, from the most mundane weekday recaps to games and features I still look back on in awe that I got the chance to write.

And now, it’s my turn to say goodbye. But mostly, it’s my turn to say

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Photo by Conor Courtney

thanks. And woah boy, did I build up a lot to cover in four years.

First, to the two that have been there the whole way. I met Hailey the first day of winter quarter freshman year at a section meeting only she and I showed up for, and Alec a few weeks later when we walked across campus in the rain on a holiday to find an open coffee shop to talk about what we thought the sports section could be. On an individual level, it’s been amazing to see each of you grow in your own ways, and as a group, it’s been amazing to see how three young sportswriters can have such an effect on an entire paper.

To the two of you, you started this whole process freshman year as my right hand and my left, and in the years since, we’ve done some great things together. Alec, you’ve been the best beat buddy, travel companion, debate opponent, successor, and friend I could ask for. Hailey, you probably account for 85% of my gray hairs — each one of them has been worth it — and you’ll have forever to give me more.

To Andy, the next one. I remember my vetting process for you. It was fall quarter 2018, when I had five beat writers to cover an athletic department, and I sat across from you and asked you to describe a game (any game) to me. About 30 seconds

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t’s weird to leave a place that’s been a huge part of your identity for what feels like your entire life. I have only faint memories of a time before college, when I feel like I was a completely different person. I’ve been at The Daily for longer than I’ve been a UW student (by a quarter).

These orange walls saw me become the person I am now, from the summer before freshman year before my onequarter early graduation.

I knew I wanted to be a journalist long before The Daily, but this place was so much more than preparation for my career. It’s also the place where I’ve made lifelong friendships and grown as a person. It’s where I’ve conquered my anxiety and finally felt like I could talk about my passions.

Inside this newsroom, with its walls covered in the writing of decades

Managing Editor: Fall 2019 - Spring 2020 Sports Editor: Spring 2017 - Summer 2019 The Daily: Fall 2016 - Spring 2020

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into your answer, I had a pretty good feeling. The section is in good hands with you; make it even better next year.

To the rest of the sportswriters who have come and gone — Cody, Aaron, Chris, Kyle, Eddy, and so many more — thank you for giving me so much of your time in college. I hope I was able to do close to as much for you as you did for me.

To all of the photographers I worked with — Conor, Lydia, Caean, Ethan, Molly, and so many more — thanks for being as integral a part of our coverage as any writer. You all are tremendously talented, and I can’t wait to see what you go on to do.

And to the new writers, my latest crop of dev kids, thank you for sticking through this. You’re being asked to do something no sports writers here have ever been asked to do; take pride in that challenge and opportunity. I can’t wait to see what you do when everything starts to come back.

And now to the editors. To Alexis and Moh, thank you for being crazy or desparate or optimistic enough to hand the section to a kid who had been on a beat for all of two months.

Susana, thank you for bearing with an overeager dev-baby-turned-editor; I miss the Bay Area pride of the Sports/ News Nook. Angie, thank you for putting me in my place and telling me to take a deep breath when I needed it. That lesson has stuck with me more than almost any other.

Rebecca, thank you for being calm, yet driven. I’ll never forget how composed and collected you were as the end of your year went from an easy

wind-down to crazy in the span of a few nights.

Then, to this year. I wasn’t nearly as comfortable as managing editor as I was with sports, but Mira, thank you for letting me try to take the step.

I hope I was able to help. To Trevor and Sam and all of your copy editors, and Jenna and Dylan and all of your designers: yeah … sorry about sports.

Rachel, you’re the new old face in the room. Use your experience to make everyone else around you better. To the new editors — Jake, Ash, Armon, and Hannah — you all have done absolutely incredible things with your respective sections. Seeing you four grow and take on your roles has been my favorite part of being managing editor.

And to Mac, I’m amazed at the things you’ve done so far, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Trust yourself, trust the team around you.

You’ve got this.

The Daily has defined my college experience. I’ve seen more, learned more, done more inside the orange walls of the newsroom and the confines of a press box (or tent) than anyone could hope to get in a classroom. I didn’t have to work late nights, or doubleheaders, or sit through rainouts and lightning delays, or get a flat tire in Oregon in the middle of the night, or pull redeyes, or write hundreds of articles and send tens of thousands of tweets; I had the opportunity to do all of those things, and for that, I’m tremendously lucky and grateful.

Thank you.

Photo by Josh Kirshenbaum

Engagement Editor: Spring 2017 - Winter 2020 Managing Editor: Winter 2018 - Spring 2018 The Daily: Summer 2016 - Winter 2020

of student journalists before us, I finally got to be myself, and sometimes that got to go on the walls too.

I’ve been lucky enough to cover some amazing sports teams and fall in love with new sports.

I’ve had the opportunity to put my thoughts on a page and get them published. So much of my confidence has come from the opportunities I was given to have a voice, after nearly two decades of being painfully shy and feeling silenced.

This is my 15th quarter at The Daily and my 12th as an editor. I’ve seen this newsroom in three different orientations and worked for four different EICs. As a result, I have way too many people to recognize for what they’ve done for me in my time here. I’ve met my closest friends here, and the love of my life. But here is an attempt to thank some people: Alexis, without you, I’m not sure I would be pursuing a career in sports media. Thank you for poaching me from the opinion section and pushing me headfirst into a field I fell in love with.

Moh, Susana, Rebecca, Monica, Alex, Sarah, Mona, Molly, Tim, and everyone who was part of The Daily when I was just a baby editor, thank you for being my mentors and teachers. I probably learned more about journalism from you than I ever did in my classes.

Rachel, Mac, Leslie, Conor, Caean, Shahbaz, Sierra, Kyle, Cameron, Sammi, Devon, Jenna, Isaac, Mira, and the way too long list of people I’ve worked with while at The Daily, it’s been a pleasure to share the newsroom with you. I wish I had the space to write something for every one of you.

Hannah, I’m excited for you to take over and make The Daily’s social media way more entertaining than I ever could.

Sam and Trevor, please take care of my Sharpies, you are the most worthy successors.

Lydia, thank you for being my Starbucks buddy, and tea-drinking buddy, and talking about fashion with me. Thanks for being equally as good of a friend as you are a photographer (and that’s pretty damn good).

Andy, at times you have been the most annoying person I know but I appreciate you so much. I hope you learned even half as much from me as I learned from you that first season covering volleyball. You’re going to be an amazing sports editor, and I’m glad

there’ll be a Japanese American on editorial staff, for the culture.

Alec, I’m glad you’re the only person I still talk to from middle school.

You’re one of the hardest workers and best storytellers I know. I’m so grateful for all the breakfasts and dinners talking sports together, for the road trip to Oregon (and meeting Helen!), for spelling bee-watching, and for our friendship. Out of all of us, I know you’re going to do amazing things, and I can’t wait to see them.

Josh, it would take far too much time to list everything you’ve done for me in our time at The Daily, from our first quarter as editors together until now, so I’ll just have to tell you every day for the rest of our lives. Thank you for being there, always.

The possibly-stolen baseball sign reading “HOME” under the old tubes that used to be used for print production says it all for me. For the past four years, between illnesses and roommate struggles and everything else going on in my life, The Daily has been my home.

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his will be the last time I write “The Daily” next to my byline. It’s weird.

Really weird.

I have written well over 500 articles for The Daily, dating back to 2017. I’ve been here so long that when I started, Chris Petersen, Lorenzo Romar, Mike Neighbors, Lesle Gallimore, and Greg Metcalf were all head coaches at Washington. The men’s basketball team had virtually no expectations, the women’s team was fresh off a programchanging Final Four appearance, and the football team was just starting a historic stretch.

I got to cover the Granddaddy of Them All. The Fiesta Bowl. The Pac-12 men’s basketball Tournament in Las Vegas, and several other smaller events that I will cherish forever, from the Windermere Cup to a women’s tennis Round of 32 match.

But while the events were enough to convince me to join The Daily and write its name 500 times next to my name, it is the people that I will cherish the most.

I have a plethora of professional journalists to thank for helping me along the way, from helping become a better journalist to just being a friend to rely on any time I needed it.

Christian Caple, Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Josh Bessex, Lauren Smith, you were all willing to come back to help out anyone at The Daily, and I know I speak for everyone at The Daily when I say that we appreciate you and are so proud of where you guys are. I don’t tell any of you enough how much you inspire me to be a better journalist, whether it’s reading the Game Daily before football games or reading my articles and reminding me to cut out my extraneous words.

To Lauren Kirschman, Adam Jude, Ryan Clark, Christian, and everyone else who was or is currently on the UW football beat, thank you for dealing with the newbies in the room and being easy to work alongside.

Sitting in that media room in the bowels of Husky Stadium wasn’t the most glamorous, by any stretch of the imagination, but I couldn’t have imagined doing it with anyone else.

While I only covered the men’s basketball team for a year, you all welcomed me with open arms and treated me like anyone else. Thank you Percy Allen for always being willing to provide wisdom (though, I know you wouldn’t call it that) and to Lauren, you and I were the only ones who had to go through both football and basketball season, and it was great having someone else who was going through the same thing (I also appreciate the drive from Phoenix to Tucson last weekend). I’ll never forget the show that Aron Baynes put on at the one Suns game we decided to go

SENIOR GOODBYES

Photo by Lydia Ely

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THE DAILY

Sports Editor: Spring 2019 - Winter 2020 The Daily: Winter 2017 - Winter 2020

to. The News Tribune and the Seattle market are really lucky to have you reporting on sports.

To all the other professional journalists that helped me and met with me for lunch or coffee, thank you.

I will remember and cherish all of your wisdom.

To all my readers, thanks for coming along with us. It was a long journey, but I appreciate each and every one of you that read my articles, followed my tweets, and stayed with me for this four year journey.

To the Washington Athletics staff, including all the coaches and media relations I have worked with, I appreciate each and every one of you. A lot of student newspapers can be swept under the rug by athletic departments, but each of you took care in giving us attention and allowing us the access that we deserve.

My last goodbye is to every single writer, photographer, and staffer I had the pleasure of working with at The Daily. I joined the sports section by chance, as it was suggested to me by a coworker at the grocery store I was working at. I had no intention of writing about sports for a living until I stumbled upon it and was thrown on the football beat my sophomore year (though it wasn’t a tough sell getting a free ticket with an incredible view in the press box).

To my writing friends, Kyle, Chris, Eddy, and so on, always feel free to reach out. I’ve got your backs, always.

The memories I have with each one of you, whether on the Box Seat or in the newsroom watching college basketball, are priceless.

To my fearless leaders and EICs, Moh, Rebecca, Andreas, and Mira (holy hell I’ve been here a long time), thanks for dealing with sports. I know we’re the problem child, and Game Dailies couldn’t have been fun (well, at least not every time). I’ve enjoyed learning and growing with you through the years.

To the future of The Daily: Andy, Anthony, Monserrat, Sydney, Nick, and all the newbies, I wish you good luck. Know that while my days writing and editing your articles are done, I will always be around if you need help, advice, or someone to talk to.

Conor, Lydia, Caean, and all the photogs, while I know sports was a lot and I could be pretty demanding, there really isn’t a crew that could have handled it better than you guys.

To Conor, thanks for starting this journey with me. I think I could tell after we worked on both of our very first assignments together on that boat chasing around the sailing team that you were destined for great things. I was definitely more sure of your talents and abilities than my own, and you’ve grown into one of the best sports photographers in the Seattle area. No bullshit.

Lydia, thanks for jumping into something that wasn’t exactly in your wheelhouse in August, but is now. You’re a champ and continue to improve and improve at anything you

set your mind to. And thank you both for being a great friend on and off road trips, I know they wouldn’t be as fun without the both of you.

Ah shit. I buried the lede.

It goes against everything that I was taught in journalism, but I guess I’ve saved the best for last. Josh and Hailey, I can’t wait to see what you guys do in the future. I remember walking into The Daily’s newsroom when I started three years ago to go to sports meetings and it was just the three of us.

A group of freshmen ran the Daily’s sports section.

To Hailey, thanks for literally doing anything that was asked of you the past couple of years. Whenever I needed someone to make a graphic, an ad, or really anything last minute, you were the one I’d rely upon. I even took it upon myself to try and learn photoshop and Adobe because I didn’t want to keep asking you to do these things, but you often helped me anyway. Keep kicking ass.

Josh, it’s hard to come up with the words to describe the past three years.

You were willing to let me help out on

the football beat, when in years past it had been a one-person show. To that, I will always be grateful, but I’ll be most appreciative of the late-night talks at Schultzy’s or being stuck in the middle of nowhere Oregon with a flat tire (a legendary story). Stay in touch, man.

I’ll miss you a lot.

My parting moments at The Daily will be ones of sorrow, but also of appreciation and excitement. I’m ready for the next chapter, wherever it takes me. But I wouldn’t have been in a position to excel if The Daily hadn’t taught me everything I knew and let me experience once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, with once-in-a-lifetime people.

So for the last time, I will write my reachline below, with my name, telling you that you can reach me at The Daily’s sports’ email. This will be the last time I write an article for The Daily, but I will always be connected to it. In some way, shape, or form, I’ll always be accessible by that email.

To that I say farewell, for now, The Daily.

Courtesy of Josh Kirshenbaum Josh Kirshenbaum and Alec Dietz sport some sick, free fedoras that they refused to wear ever again at the BYU press box.

SENIOR GOODBYES

SUMMER 2020 5

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Courtesy of Sierra Stella

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Arts & Leisure Editor: Winter 2019 - Fall 2019 Copy Editor: Fall 2018 The Daily: Spring 2017 - Spring 2020

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hen my friend Shahbaz Khan encouraged me to apply for The Daily my freshman year, I never imagined how much it would come to mean to me. Under the tutelage of then-development editor Makayla Kinsella, I found my voice as a writer and learned just how fun and empowering writing for a newspaper

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t feels strange to say goodbye to The Daily because I truly feel like I just started here. While I know that’s just faulty perception, I think the reason for it is that it’s always exciting to be a part of this team; there’s always a new opportunity, new people to meet, and new stories to tell.

The community at The Daily is full of some of the most talented, warm, and generous people I have had the pleasure to come across. Being able to work with them as arts & leisure editor for the past six months has been one of the most enriching periods of my life.

There’s something really special about

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could be. Although I never expected to go beyond just writing, I was happy I’d decided to apply.

When I wanted to become a copy editor, Kellyn Grassel and Sam Steele welcomed me and put up with my incessant questions. And when I applied to be Arts & Leisure editor after just one quarter of being a copy editor, thenEIC Andreas Redd was generous enough to believe in me and give me a shot.

The Daily became my community at a time when I was just finding my place at UW. It gave me the chance to grow as an editor, a boss, a coworker, a friend, and as a person.

It challenged me to stay engaged with my community and not fall into complacency. Although my relationship to The Daily has changed in the past year since I left a leadership position, I will always have a special place in my heart for the junior year I spent in the newsroom working and joking around with some of my favorite people.

I want to give thanks to the folks who made my experience at The Daily a good one. Thanks to Andreas for being a thoughtful, receptive, and kind editor-in-chief, who didn’t take less than your best work and your best intentions.

Thanks to Kellyn, Sam, and Trevor Hunt for their incredible, dedicated work as copy chiefs — I knew I always had a home at the copy desk. Thanks to Josh Kirshenbaum and Hailey Robinson for always being willing to chat about what was on my mind.

Thanks to Sammi Bushman and Rachel Morgan — I miss our little corner of the newsroom. Thanks to Manisha Jha for your passion and your inspiring work.

Thanks to my incredible, dedicated A&L writers for time, your thoughts, and your wonderful work. Thanks to my incredible successor, Armohn Mahdavi, for your excellent leadership of my old section. And thanks to Shahbaz for getting me here in the first place.

Thanks also, and in no particular order, to Charlie Kappes, Alec Dietz, Natalie Rand, Estey Chen, Kyle Bender, Ryan Phelan, Devon McBride, Blake Peterson, Conor Courtney, Lydia Ely, Abby Dahl, Jenna Shanker, Mac Murray, Niva Ashkenazi, and everyone else who I inevitably forgot to name.

You made my time here special, and you made The Daily great.

Photo by Sammi Bushman

Arts & Leisure Editor: Winter 2020 - Spring 2020 The Daily: Winter 2019-Winter 2020

working with a team in pursuit of a common goal, a team that is so committed to doing the best work they can.

Being able to witness that and be a part of it is the greatest gift that The Daily has given me.

When I first started here, I really, truly never would have imagined that I would become an editor. It just wasn’t even a possibility in my mind.

I am eternally grateful to Sierra, who encouraged me to apply and made me feel like the possibility was there.

Similarly, I want to thank Mira, who for some reason believed in me enough to hire me even though I was kind of an unknown and did not have much experience. I don’t think I would’ve hired me, but I’m so grateful she did. I also want to thank you for being such a great editor-in-chief and friend to work under, as I always felt comfortable to express new ideas for the section with you.

To Sammi, thank you for putting in a good word for me when I applied to The Daily two years ago and being my go-to photographer. Thank you for being a great friend for the last three years and for the two compliments you’ve given me in that same time span. Those were nice.

To Andy, thank you for editing my application to The Daily, back when I didn’t know what multimedia meant (do I know now?).

While I’m grateful for everyone who I’ve come to know and befriend on the editorial staff, I want to especially thank the other editors who were hired when I was: Ash, Jake, and Mo. I think without all of your warmth and friendship, my experience would have been completely different. Ash, you were the greatest desk partner I could have ever asked for. Jake, your talent is so vast it disgusts me. Mo, you are truly one of the most charming people I’ve met and I can’t wait to go to Paris with you one of these days.

To all of the writers I’ve worked with as editor, I feel blessed to have known you. Your talent, patience, and passion was an inspiration to me every single day.

I came to UW because I wanted to live in Seattle, and this wouldn’t feel right without thanking the city that shaped the last few years of my life. To be an art nerd in Seattle is a beautiful thing.

In that vein, there are some Seattle things I want to thank. Thank you to Greenlake Park for hosting me for approximately 2,000 stress walks in my college career. Thank you to the Grand Illusion Cinema, my favorite theater in the world, and one that I hope the U-District never has to live without. Thank you to Magus Books for fueling my literary addiction.

Thank you to Chop Suey for being the best place to dance in the city.

Thank you to Cascina Spinasse for your tajarin with butter, sage, and parmesan. Thank you to Carnitas Michoacan for your fresh tortillas.

Thank you to Vif for your wonderful wine.

Mostly, I want to thank the artistic community of the UW, the U-District, and beyond. You are the soul of this place, what makes life worth living, what makes college beautiful, what makes culture advance. It’s been a pleasure covering what you do.

Courtesy of Amber Hsu

su H r e

The Daily: Winter 2019 - Spring 2020

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remember being so excited about my first printed article — a small Q&A about student financial aid in the Back-ToSchool edition of The Daily — that I sent a physical copy home for my family to see. I still get excited every time an article I write gets published, online or in print.

Looking back, freshmanyear Amber never would have thought she would be writing for the school paper. I had always been the quiet student at the back of the classroom.

Even simple acts like talking

to a professor at office hours or asking a classmate for missed notes would make me anxious. Applying to The Daily stemmed from a desire to step out of my comfort zone and build confidence in my talking and writing skills, and I am so grateful that I took the leap.

Even though I’ve only been here for a little over a year, I feel like I’ve learned much more than I could have hoped to. I’ve written about healing crystals, DNA testing, and rocket launching. I’ve interviewed people about bad

posture, professional gaming, and computer-rendered art.

I’ve had the opportunity to hear about topics I didn’t even know existed, and talk to people on such different walks of life.

With every new story I heard, I felt like I broadened my worldview a little more. None of this would have been possible without the freedom and encouragement that the editors at The Daily provide to us writers; thank you all so much!

I also want to thank everyone else at the Daily who makes publishing each article possible!

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y time with The Daily has been incredibly rewarding, challenging, anxiety-inducing, and just about everything in the middle. I didn’t know what I would get myself

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Courtesy of Mo Tilmo

Co-Photo Editor: Winter 2020 - Spring 2020 The Daily: Spring 2019- Spring 2020 into when I decided to join The Daily, but boy am I glad that I signed up.

I look back on the first time I entered the newsroom and see this nervous, timid photographer who was just trying to find the room for the photo development class.

Never would I have thought that I would be the photo editor for The Daily, but sometimes you even surprise yourself. There were a lot of people who helped me along the way.

To the people directly tied to The Daily who pushed me to be a better

he last season of a TV show never lives up to expectations. Maybe the fan-favorite couple doesn’t end up together, maybe the show loses its magic, or maybe your favorite character goes on a rampage with her dragon without any believable character development to reach that breaking point. But isn’t that life?

(Perhaps not the last one.)

The class of 2020’s senior spring did not live up to expectations. There are a lot of goodbyes I never properly got to say, so I guess I should say them now.

To the photographers and editors that came before me — Conor, Caean, any photographers I’ve met on assignment — you are everything I strive to be. Watching and learning from your tenacity, creativity, integrity has been a great honor, and I hope to channel it as life moves on.

Conor, I would have gone crazy without you this year. We must have pissed quite a few people off those times in media rooms with our jokes, but it was well worth it. You believed in my potential as an editor and a photographer, even when I didn’t. I truly look up to you, as a friend and a photographer, and am so lucky to have not been the pickiest eater on all those road trips. We respect all yeets and sends.

To the photographers that I’ve worked with at The Daily, you all are rock stars. We were able to tell beautiful and important visual stories about protests, local restaurants, house shows, and a freaking pandemic.

To all the younger photogs at The Daily, watching you grow in skill and confidence has been truly amazing —

student and photographer and taught me to look at things with a different lens: I cannot thank you enough.

I want to thank Molly, Conor, and Andreas for taking a chance when y’all decided to hire me in Spring 2019. I am beyond grateful that you did.

Thank you for being patient, kind, and completely understanding with me, Lydia. I cannot imagine how this last year of being a co-photo editor would have been without you. I couldn’t have asked for a better work partner.

Thank you Mira, for taking a chance on me and hiring me to be the photo editor even though I would miss an entire quarter. Thank you to Ash, Jake, and Armon for making my return to The Daily in the winter quarter so seamless and being really easy people

to work with. Walking home with you all during winter quarter is something I will hold close to me forever. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for y’all.

And a huge thank you to everyone in the newsroom. I often get asked why I smile so much, and it’s because I was surrounded by such wonderful people in that room that I couldn’t help but smile.

And to the people who weren’t directly tied to my Daily experience, I want to thank you. You all have made me the person that I am today.

I’m not particularly good at giving advice but I will leave y’all with this piece that I got from a dear friend: “Sometimes you surprise yourself.”

Photo by Conor Courtney

Co-Photo Editor: Summer 2019 - Spring 2020 The Daily: Spring 2018 - Spring 2020

especially all my sports trainees.

It brings me so much joy to know that you all will become far better photographers than

T

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I. To Mo, the newsroom became a brighter place with you around. I am so grateful to have you as my co-editor. The insight you brought and your passion for life made the photo desk a more joyful and balanced place. I can’t wait to see all the places you go and the stories you tell, especially with your camera.

To the sports crew, dear god your patience with me — and my captions — has been inspiring. We all know how clueless I was about sports when I started, and your willingness to teach me the rules and answer silly questions has renewed my love for sports and given me a new favorite type of photography.

Hailey, our conversations about tea and Robert Pattinson and so much more have been such a great pleasure.

Sometimes, it’s a little intimidating to be one of the few women in the press box, and seeing you lead the way has allowed me to understand that I belong in those spaces.

Josh, you have been the best (or worst?) source of dad jokes in the newsroom. Your excitement for the value of journalism and your passion for The Daily is infectious. There’s no one I’d rather sing along to that one Depeche Mode song with.

Andy, I know everything is up in the air right now, but you are doing an amazing job leading the sports section through it. Your writers are lucky to have you, and I feel robbed of the countless sing-alongs and dance parties we would have had this quarter.

Alec, you have a unique talent for finding the human in a story and sharing it. Soon enough, you’re going to be writing stories about sports that the whole wide world will read. You will change things with your writing.

Working with you made me a better editor, photographer, and friend.

Thank you for making me admit when I need help, holding me accountable, and dealing with my chaotic energy on all those road trips. I am the luckiest person in the world to call you one of my best friends — and a natural at sports photography.

To the late night crew, we did good.

Working with you until well past 11 p.m. was never easy, but man, it was fun. There’s a sort of catharsis in the work we did, and getting to hold those physical weekly editions, Game Dailies, and Pacific Waves was incredibly rewarding. Abby, Jenna, Dylan, Peyton, somehow you transitioned that feeling to the beautiful web editions we put together this quarter. You all are incredibly creative, and I loved working with you to put out a product we can be proud of.

Dylan, we sure had good times listening to music and quoting Twin Peaks. Working from home is significantly less fun because I don’t get to sit next to you. Trevor and Sam, thank you for your never ending patience with my stupid grammar questions, and for dealing with all of the errors in this letter. Trevor, you do more than I thought possible and somehow still were able to help me edit things and rant about politics when I needed it.

To everyone I’ve worked with in my time at The Daily, wow. Now is more important than ever to carry the values of truth-telling and working for the community to wherever you go, be that journalism or anywhere else. The work you do, especially by those covering COVID-19 and the ongoing protests, gives a voice to what is true and works to keep power in check. To the editorial staff, I admire you all and will take the lessons I’ve learned from each of you with me throughout life.

Chamidae, working on Beneath the Threads with you changed my idea of what I could be as a journalist. I saw you connecting with people, leading with creativity, and realized that I could do that with my photography as

well. Hold on tight to what you have — not everyone is gifted with such confidence, strength of voice, and style.

Natalie, you are growing into yourself every day, and it fills me with such joy to see that. Talking about music and frustrations and Jay Inslee with you has been such a gift. I am so excited for what you have in store.

Mira, our fearless leader, you did not have a simple year to be EIC, but you took it all in stride. You held me as I cried, you let me nap that one time I accidentally ate that cookie before production, you reminded me to value my mental and physical health. Your leadership has calmed me and given me confidence in my abilities, especially when I had no idea what I was doing. Thank you for your friendship, your enthusiasm when discussing philosophy and the big questions of the world, and your reading of my chakras. When the yoga studios open back up, you’re the first person I’m calling.

I like to move on from things, to constantly believe that my peak has yet to come, that things will only be better from here on, but I can’t help but think that these have been the days I’ll look back at the fondest. Of course that’s not true, as I hope to hold many of you close to me and make new memories throughout the years, but there will always exist these moments, frozen in amber, of the days spent in that dingy old room in the communications building. The TV show didn’t end up as expected, but damn, what a ride it has been.

I measure my life in songs and playlists, so I made one for this time of transition. Listen to it or not, but these are the songs that will remind me of these golden years. Perhaps it’s cheesy to end on a quote, but this one is from my favorite musical, Wicked, so I’m making an exception.

“And now whatever way our stories end / I know you have rewritten mine / By being my friend.”

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i Bushma

itting on a ski lift my freshman year, Ethen Whattam asked me what I wanted to do in college. “I want to be a journalist and join the newspaper, BUT,” I hesitated.

“You can do it,” Whattam replied, telling me all the great things journalists do. “You should do it.”

So I dropped the ski fraternity and joined The Daily.

My first mentor was then-science editor Emma Bueren, who taught me to persevere through hard topics and not to underestimate myself.

Sitting in one of Emma’s meetings was where I met Molly Quinton, thencopy chief and now my forever friend.

Throughout my time at The Daily, Molly offered me advice, criticism, gave me the space and strength to grow, and convinced me to do the thing that I was most afraid of: pick a major.

Thank you, Molly, for teaching me

Courtesy of Sammi Bushman

n

Science Editor: Spring 2019 The Daily: Winter 2017 - Spring 2020 not to double space after a punctuation mark, for shading my copy skills, and laughing at my dumb jokes.

As I developed from trepedatious writer into a regular newsroom presence, editor Tim Kenney provided me with every opportunity possible to put my name on the front page. My first column, Media Under the Microscope, made me feel like I maybe had a future in journalism after all.

Then I met Kellyn, a spicy queen who judged my syntactical sins and social sins all the same. She welcomed me into her life with open arms and for the first time, I felt like I had found a real community in college, at The Daily.

That spring, I took photo development with Caean Couto.

Thanks Caean for a chaotic Dev class that ultimately made me believe in myself as a photographer. You gave me opportunities I was afraid to give myself and radiated confidence, even if it was fake, when I felt insignificant.

The Daily has fundamentally changed who I am over the past four

years; thanks to all the people that make up our little world. I’ve laid out private parts of my life in articles, learned to be proud of who I am, and reluctantly agreed to write while concussed or hungover for the good of the CMS. I’ve learned how toxic a workplace can be, but also how good coworkers and friends can lift you up on the bleakest of days.

Rachel, you’ve been there for me when no one else was, to listen or joke or scream while munching on CheezeIt’s in the elevator. We’ve run through rainstorms and cornfields and stuck together on trans-Mediterranean hungover plane rides. You better invite me to your wedding or I’ll sue.

Conor, you entered my journalism journey later on. I got to ski with you before things went to hell and that’s really all that matters.

Christine, who bought me an ice cream bar one spring day two years ago, you have quickly become my journalism wife, full of support and talent and mad skillz.

Armon, our friendship has been tumultuous and full of innuendos I can’t publish. Stop being so mean to yourself and get a job.

Thank you to all my U-District sources for taking me under your wing and making me feel big in the enormous world of journalism.

Thank you Sierra, for being my desk mate and literally letting me into your home when I had none.

Josh, Hailey, Lydia, Mo, Leslie, Ethan, Charlie, Trevor, Jake, Mira, Emma, all of my writers during my short time as science editor, and everyone else who makes up the newsroom: you — and hopefully me too — are the future.

I am not a star writer. I did not write breaking news or many in-depth stories. I was sometimes overwhelmed by my mental health and forgot a photography assignment. I’ve cried a lot in the Communication Building.

But this has not stopped me from seeing all of what The Daily does and the ways in which the staff has lifted others, including myself, up. I see everyone working hard, pouring passion into articles, and confidently ignoring their hit count in favor of being proud of the work.

Journalism is hard AF. It’s one part cult, two parts ethical dilemma, and one large portion of fatigue.

I am far from perfect, but thanks to everyone at The Daily, I know I can be successful wherever I end up.

The many blunders, achievements, and edits I’ve received over the years have made the future bright, even now when the professional path seems so dark.

“

Now he’s gone and joined that stupid club...

- Kurt’s Mom

”

Courtesy of Lydia Ely

Lydia Ely, Hailey Robinson, and Mira Petrillo at the EIC and photo desks. TBH the women that keep this newsroom running.

File Photo Hurricane winter 2018: Hailey Robinson, Josh Kirshenbaum, and Alec Dietz saying goodbye to their seniors just as we do for them now.

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WARNING: CLICHÉ SPORTS GUY INCOMING!

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’ve always loved sports. I loved the way people would find creative ways to tell the same story I had heard a dozen times already. I loved watching Damian Lillard hit an incredible shot to beat the Rockets in the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, and then I loved reading about it the next day.

I loved the way communities would come together around sport. I loved seeing the way athletes interacted with one another.

I came to idolize everything about sports. Since I was never a particularly athletic guy, I knew I wouldn’t even get a look from college programs.

So, I really idolized the people that maneuvered their way into the field without a sports background. That’s who I wanted to be.

Eventually I came across The Daily with no experience but was so gung-

SENIOR GOODBYES

The Daily: Spring 2018 - Winter 2020 ho on joining.

I remember I applied and instantly regretted not doing so sooner.

I think I even double-emailed the sports editor, Josh Kirshenbaum, just a couple days later to ask if I got the job, which I’m sure wasn’t annoying at all.

After a quarter of development in the spring of my sophomore year, I went home for the summer and watched the days scrape by as I cut and measured fish in a QFC seafood department. Towards the end of break I got a text from Josh saying that the women’s soccer writer had dropped out and they needed someone to take over. I quit my job early, moved back up to Seattle and started covering a team and sport that I had close to zero knowledge of.

After reading every piece about the team from a season ago and becoming a master in my familiarity with the team, I was ready. I was getting prepared

to head down to the soccer field on a scalding hot August afternoon, and then I got a text saying from the Sports Information Director. He wouldn’t be there, and I would have to conduct all the interviews on my own.

I was scared shitless. I was just a student that had never done this before and now I’m flying solo. This team has no idea who I am, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I worked my way through an awkward interview and raced home to write my first story.

I’m sure I was far from great, and probably just sniffing mediocre during my first beat, but I eventually got better. Seeing my name in print for the first time was a dream come true.

Getting a chance to interview football players was a dream come true.

Having a story I started from scratch that became the front page story was a dream come true. Having my own podcast has been a dream come true.

Writing for The Daily obviously is not ESPN, or The Athletic, or even The Seattle Times. While I’m not sure exactly how many people read/listen to my work or even know who I am. I don’t even know where I’m going to go from here without a job lined up.

None of that mattered to me.

What’s important is that these past two years, I became the person I grew up idolizing. I was the guy telling someone’s important and moving life story, or delivering hot takes on a podcast, or breaking down the best and worst Adidas uniforms around the nation. I did it, I lived my dream.

The Daily gave me this opportunity, and no one can ever take the experience from me. Thank you so much for this amazing ride, I wish it didn’t end here.

Ch

Courtesy of Christina Ramler

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Dylan McKone The Daily

Josh Kirshenbaum leads the 2019 open house for interested students.

The Daily: Winter 2019 - Spring 2020

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t’s interesting how predictable I’ve become as a person and a writer. I am entirely unsurprised by the topics I chose to write about: fashion, music, travel, yoga, and art, among others.

The Daily provided me with the opportunity to curate a portfolio that includes topics I hope to explore in the future in another career and a matured life of the mind.

I have learned to find immense value in someone else’s time and expertise. Interviewees are welldeserving of appreciation, and I cherish the genuine conversations I have had with people who seem so out of my league, and whom I would never have made acquaintance with otherwise. I entered each interaction as the comfortable question-asker,

and soon realized that interviews become far more complicated when they’re about a project or place or talent that someone holds within the deepest of sentiments.

It’s easy to get someone to talk about what they love; it’s hard to figure out how to accurately communicate such essential parts of an identity when it’s all transcribed and I’ve got a limit of 800 words.

For me, thanking someone for their time was also thanking them for their experiences and for who they are: a person who has become infatuated with a single subject and centered years of curiosity around it. I have yet to know such a directed passion. I feel spoiled, undeserving of countless finetuned words. Working for The Daily allowed me to have those fulfilling conversations.

My favorite part of interviews were their conclusions. What begins must have an end, a set of final words. I have realized that as a writer, I am hell-bent on carefully arranging the pretty language that goes at the end of

a piece. I am a fan of lesson-learning and structure. This is how I guide my life, and so this is how I guide my writing. It’s imperative for me to leave myself and the reader with words that marinate. At some point, I will write a piece that involves learning nothing, but I have yet to learn how to do that.

I appreciate the editors that helped me to communicate ideas, and in effect, taught me to let go of what was nonessential.

Advocating for yourself isn’t always a first choice, but when coupled with the right surroundings, it becomes habitual. At The Daily, when you really want something, there’s an opportunity to get it. The entire process of it all is nothing short of fun and creative.

However, it requires forgiving yourself for the occasional mess-up.

When I was at the press event for MOHAI’s “Seattle Style: Fashion/ Function” exhibit, someone in marketing at Nordstrom introduced herself to me and asked me where I was from. In my naturally peppy voice, I told her I was from Minnesota. She flatly replied to me, clarifying that she intended to ask what publication I was from.

The look she gave me was disapproving enough for me to

notice. I then accurately answered her question, which is probably what everyone first asks at these events.

I was unaware because of pure inexperience.

The interaction happened in front of other important people, and I didn’t care. I had this moment where I totally accepted that I was naive, and found it comical. It’s really freeing to make a mistake, no matter the level of social violation, and find peace in the fact that you’re still trying your best.

Writing at The Daily has been challenging and exciting for me.

I’ve been forced to hold myself accountable. I am on good terms with why I write, what fulfills me, and how many opportunities there are for me and my peers: editors, writers, illustrators, photographers. Our work is out there for people to see.

As dramatic as it sounds, I once wrote this in a “Song to Start Your Week” for arts & leisure: “The moment I have it all figured out and live in a world where no questions are asked — that will be the saddest moment of my life.” I will keep those words, and remind myself of the curiosity that working in journalism at The Daily has brought me.

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didn’t join The Daily on a whim.

I knew that upon entering college I wanted to write. But I never wrote for a high school paper and I had no idea how to turn my writing into a marketable skill. It would be months before I’d begin academic coursework in communications or journalism, and I lacked confidence that I could turn my goals into a reality. I didn’t join on a whim; I applied to prove to myself that I could. I had no idea what to expect, but it’s one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made.

At my first pitch meeting for the Arts & Leisure section, my ears perked up when the word “review” entered the air. The review in question was for an under-the-radar children’s animated film Rock Dog, about a Tibetan Mastiff

I

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Courtesy of Ryan Phelan

The Daily: Winter 2017 - Spring 2020

that leaves his post as a guard on Snow Mountain (the actual name), abandoning his father and a village with a ban on music, to become a rock star.

It was terrible.

But picking up that pitch was one of the best decisions I ever made because from the second I stepped into a college newsroom, I milked the chance to write about what I love: entertainment.

Over the next three years, I wrote quarterly TV streaming recaps and previews and turned around Netflix shows for review on weekends. I got the chance to profile leaders behind a Chinese-language student radio station and passionate conducting students charged with leading nonmusic major Philharmonia Orchestras.

I didn’t know what it meant to be a reporter when I came to the UW, but The Daily taught me. I learned to take journalistic rigor and apply it to the things I loved. I learned that everyone has a story to share and the joy that

on g W an

t’s bittersweet to realize that my chapter and time at the Daily is finished. With the current events surrounding the country right now, self-reflection has provided me an opportunity to temporarily get away from Zoom and screen time. It’s allowed me to appreciate and be grateful for everything I have in the world. Among those items, I am truly blessed to have The Daily be a part of my experience at the UW. Growing up in Southern California, I quickly fell in love with basketball and football at an early age. Whether it was watching LaDanian Tomlinson score a touchdown on Sundays or Kobe Bryant hitting a mid-range jumper in the middle of the week, the excitement and passion for sports always put me in a fantastic mood. I’ll always remember waking up on Saturday and Sunday mornings to gather the LA Times paper from our driveway.

After having a pancake breakfast every Saturday morning for as long as

comes with helping someone share it.

Plus, I got to see my byline in a real print newspaper! I got to sit in preview screenings for films for review. I’m immensely privileged to have gotten these opportunities and I never want to take that for granted.

I’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to edit my work, specifically Mohammed Kloub, Colin Piwtorak, Rebecca Gross, Cameron Eldridge, Sierra Stella, Andreas Redd, Mira Petrillo, and Armon Mahdavi.

Your feedback has been invaluable to me for my growth as a writer, reporter, coworker, and human being and I can’t give enough thanks for the opportunities I’ve been given. Thanks to the copy editors who’ve made me look good with every edit and to the illustrators and photographers for all the work that they do.

I want to give extra thanks to Cameron and Sierra, who guided the arts section during the bulk of my time at The Daily. Cameron, you gave me countless opportunities to write about what I love and always pushed me to seek out interesting stories. Without your encouragement, I never would have jumped into column writing or felt comfortable writing about pop culture. Sierra, your edits always made

my writing so much better, and your collaborative mindset made writing for you a whole lot of fun. Thank you for always making the arts section an inviting place to be a part of.

I also want to thank all my fellow Daily staffers and coworkers for being great people, whether we’re real life friends or mutual Twitter followers passing in the night.

Lastly, thank you to my amazing support network for making my time at the UW so special. I’m grateful for Liala, my family, and my brothers in Theta Xi for being my most ardent supporters, as well as all my other friends who have taken the time to read anything I’ve written.

I’m annoyingly sentimental and nostalgic by nature. I thought I would have more trips to the newsroom, just like I thought I’d have more hurried half-jogs to class across campus. I wouldn’t trade my years at The Daily for anything, and the brilliant and compassionate people I’ve been lucky enough to work with have fostered a culture of support, creativity, and passion that is unparalleled.

As I graduate and head off to my next phase in life, I’ll take my lessons from The Daily wherever I go. Thank you for everything.

Courtesy of Evan Wong

The Daily: Winter 2019 - Spring 2020

I can remember, it would be time to dive into the sports section and read about everything that was currently going on. I had the idea inside my head and then I said to myself, “How cool would it be if I could be in the paper one day as a writer?”

I took an intro journalism class my junior year of high school and learned some basics and fundamentals about journalism.

When I decided to come to the University of Washington in the spring of 2016, I wanted to study business.

I took all the prerequisite courses and applied to the Foster School of Business. I didn’t get accepted so I decided to look for an alternative. At the time, I didn’t know if I wanted to apply for communication or journalism. I went over the pros and cons of both options and decided that going the journalism route would provide me with all the skills a communication degree would and a whole lot more. I’m very glad I choose the journalism path because, without it, I wouldn’t have joined The Daily.

During the winter quarter of 2019, I was taking COM 360 with Claudia Yaw and was thinking about applying to write for the Daily. I wasn’t sure about my decision to apply and asked her some questions about her

experience with the Daily. After my questions and concerns had been alleviated, I completed my application and submitted it. All I can remember from development was taking my copy test with Alec Dietz and him giving me the final thumbs up. Thank you Claudia for encouraging me to apply for the Daily because that was the push I needed to make my final decision.

I was super excited that I got to have my own beat starting spring quarter 2019. I had never watched, let alone covered, rowing before so I know I was in for a ride. SID Jeff Bechthold was incredibly friendly from the first email I sent to him and we established a great relationship during my time at the Daily.

My favorite memory from the Daily was covering the 2019 Windermere Cup. Leading up to one of the world’s most renowned regattas, I had gotten somewhat comfortable with the basics of rowing, but Windermere Cup week is a different beast. The student athletes and coaches are locked in. There’s a press conference. The weather in Seattle is starting to get really nice with summer just on the horizon. I’ll never forget the energy and atmosphere of the Montlake Cut during the Windermere Cup. It simply cannot be matched or duplicated.

When COVID-19 cancelled spring season sports for collegiate athletes across the country, I was devastated for everyone involved. I’m incredibly sad for the student athletes, coaches, and fans who make the Windermere Cup

one-of-a-kind.

I don’t know how I want to end this so I’m going to begin my wrap up with the people who have provided me with support, guidance, and encouragement. I want to thank Alec Dietz and Josh Kirshenbaum for being awesome sports editors and mentors to me. Each of you brought something to the table that allowed me to grow as a writer and member of the Daily staff.

Thank you Josh Eddy for giving me the opportunity to be a guest on The Box Seat Podcast. It’ll be something I’ll always remember.

Thank you Andy Yamashita for being my sports editor during incredibly tough and overwhelming circumstances the past quarter. And thank you to the rest of the sports section for producing great content and being even better representatives of the Daily. The future is bright for all you despite the current circumstances.

I’m 100% confident that the rest of our sports section will continue to improve and accomplish fantastic feats.

To Luka, James, Monserrat, Anthony, Nathan, Evie, Nicholas, Sydney, and Nick: Continue being awesome and it’ll lead each and every one of you to heights you may not even imagined before. I believe in all of you.

And one final thank you to the Daily for allowing me to contribute to an outstanding newspaper.