Hey there Hawks, your co-editors-in-chief Cecilia Negash and Maggie O’Hara are writing to you live from the Hawkeye room, drowning in our empty monster cans, teary-eyed, because as of May 6, 2023, we are writing our very last letter for the Hawkeye. The tears are also from stress, but we will temporarily ignore that.
It’s almost hard to imagine a time where we weren’t in our current positions, but at the same time we still so clearly remember all the events leading us to where we are now. We could go all the way back to freshman year, but honestly we did not interact at all. In fact, our interactions with each other didn’t really start until after we were given the positions of co-editors.
Flashback to the end of junior year, our previous co-editors Ritika Khanal and Nico Francois were soon to be graduating, and had the task of deciding who would take on their positions for next year. Only one of us suspected that they would be chosen. We’ll give you a hint, the one that knew was the Irish one. That being said, it wasn’t official until a meeting in May was held to unveil the new leadership configuration.
Our interactions started increasing by that point, not willingly though. It was more so forced proximity since we had to start working on the next issue together. But it was nice, so more like pleasantly forced proximity. Kind of like Stockholm syndrome, but in our case we are both simultaneously the captor and the captured. That sounds absolutely insane but let us explain the logic. So Maggie holds Cecilia hostage, Cecilia holds Maggie hostage, all in the good name of getting work done for Hawkeye.
So for the second half of May and all of June, we became much more acquainted with each other, but didn’t ceremonialize the friendship until the annual leadership retreat in August. Both of us were at a point where we felt unfit for our new roles, but didn’t think the other felt the same. In fact, we both believed the other was much more confident about their capability of being a leader.
It wasn’t until we crossed paths (probably because the room we were all staying in was only a couple of square feet) and saw that the other looked very frazzled. Next thing we knew, we were sitting in a corner and talking about our worries moving forward, and all the doubts we had about ourselves. Suddenly the disconnect no longer existed, and when we looked at each other we no longer saw the non-relatable, cooler, more capable co-editor, but rather another peer who was in the same boat.
It’s safe to say that from that point on, we subconsciously made the decision of “yeah, that’s my friend now.” We hate each other now, and at dawn we will duel with our adviser Vince DeMiero overseeing it.
This past year has brought us even closer together, as well as closer with the rest of Hawkeye, spearheaded by George Santos and Eminem. It’s bittersweet to know that our time in this organization is coming to an end, but we’re gonna try and make it all the more sweet by recapping some of our favorite moments from this year.
Our first highlight has to be the time the Hawkeye won multiple awards at this year’s state convention, because we’re incredibly self-centered. This particular event felt very special to us because every time one of our staff members’ names were called to collect an award, we screamed so loud we started getting weird looks. We made it a goal to scream louder than any other school there, it was a rewarding ending to our four years of work in the organization. Crazy, earning awards felt rewarding.
There was also the nationals trip, which was only a few weeks ago. This year’s bi-annual WJEA convention was held in Tenderloin, San Francisco. Now, the trip had its dark moments, a multitude of them really, since one of us became violently ill on the trip (hint: it was NOT the Irish one). But one good thing that came out of that sickness was the sleepiness that came with it.
Before we even left the school to go to the airport, the non-Irish co-editor slept on a table in the Hawkeye room for three hours, where multiple staff members took pictures from multiple angles. It didn’t stop there, though. We board the plane, get more sleep, get more pictures. We get to the hotel room, get even more sleep, even more pictures. We also won awards during that trip too, but clearly that’s not as significant.
And then, there’s crunch. Crunches, actually. An almost monthly event where we come together and feel the lows and highs of student journalism all condensed into one weekend right before an issue is released.
We edit, design, write, wrangle, cry, laugh, just dance, and collectively lose our sanity. All of this is accompanied by DeMiero’s “at school” playlist. The experience is a nonstop whiplash of mashups that should be illegal, combining Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Nickelback, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Madonna impressively all in one song, to the emotional car crash of “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo, that always leaves us asking, “Is he okay?” What’s great about the playlist is that it progressively becomes more depressing as time goes on, which directly parallels how crunch progresses.
Probably the most rewarding part of being co-editors has been seeing the progress and growth so many of our staff members accomplished as student journalists this year.
A big reason for that is because of how much we see ourselves in them, and it’s beyond relieving to know the organization will be left in great hands. Although we’re going to be leaving soon, a part of us will always be in room 130.
That being said, it’s time for us to step back and pass down the torch.
With that, it’s over Hawks. Η
