2020 Senior Goodbyes
Ella Lucente – Editor-in-Chief
This is such a bittersweet goodbye, leaving the Ledger in its entirety after nearly three years. I started with the paper when I transferred to UWT, during a time of uncertainty. Needless to say, I was lost in some heavy personal issues. I wanted to find my niche, and I am proud to say I found so much more than that. Being part of three academic years with this community, I found my voice, my strength in leadership, but more importantly I found a family — no matter how dysfunctional at times! The amount of hours spent with three years of incredibly talented writers and artists in MAT 151 has left such a positive impact on my heart.
To the Ledger staff, past and present, I am so proud of you all. Thank you all for allowing me into your life — even when I’m an annoying pest at times! To Daniel Nash, Kelsie Abrams and Avery Parker, thank you for taking a chance on me when I first walked into that office, not knowing anything newspaper related, and thank you for pushing me to grow and mature. To Alyssandra Goss, Mitchell Fermo, and Maya Thomas: thank you for being my rock when I needed help or needed to vent. You three saved my sanity throughout my senior year, and I appreciate that more than you’ll ever know. To Madison Williams, I am going to miss our coffee dates and early morning meetings in the office. Thank you for being a great confidant and friend to me. Lastly, to Talia Collett, my successor of the Ledger: I hand you the baton, and know you will lead the next group to success.
We did it, Class of 2020! Don’t look back, the future is very bright ahead of us.
Meghan Rand – Opinion Editor
Working with The Ledger has been my favorite job that I’ve ever had. Being given the chance to work with a group of incredibly talented writers, get involved with my community and get to know UW Tacoma on a deeper level has been an experience that I won’t ever forget. Working as a journalist was, and still is, a dream job for me, and I’m so thankful for The Ledger for helping me find my true calling and being such a great start to what I hope will be a successful career in the communications field.
UW Tacoma is a special place, and The Ledger helped me see that. I’m so thankful for all of the wonderful writers I got to work with — Nick Luna, Bengisu Incentas, Madi Williams, Brooks Moeller and Andrew Brown. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to be involved in your work. You all are wonderful and I’m so excited to see what you guys do in the future. Now, getting ready to start my master’s degree, I know I will always carry the endless list of things I’ve learned with me.
Congratulations to the wonderful team picking up the baton while the class of 2020 makes a bittersweet departure. I will always miss you, Ledger!
Andrew Brown – Film Critic
Coming to the end of my education is a happy occasion, but unfortunately is accompanied by me having to leave the Ledger. I always enjoyed reading the paper during my first couple of years as a student, envying those who got to contribute to it. One year ago, I made a shot in the dark and sent an email to the Ledger, asking if they could use my talents. To my great surprise and happiness, they accepted. My subsequent year as a senior has been one of great fun, getting paid for the first time in my life to write about my extracurricular passion for movies.
But nothing was greater than the bonds of friendship that emerged, and the great working relationship the staff shared. Thank you to Ella, our editor-in-chief, for taking a chance on an inexperienced dummy like me. Thank you to my A&E section editors Meghan and Talia for always checking my work, for it always needed correcting! Thank you to our staff contact Daniel for being a steady guiding voice for us all on the paper. But most of all, thanks to my girlfriend Chloe for being my undying support in this position, accompanying me to every film I saw and always providing an extra editor’s expertise for my writing.
I would also like to wish my successor Henry Nguyen good tidings, but also encouragement not to worry. The organization he’s entering is in good hands. Goodbye, and good luck.
Nicolas Luna – Opinion Columnist
With only six months under my belt, I must say goodbye to The Ledger. Despite being short and sweet, my time here serves as the cornerstone of my writing abilities and has inspired me to push myself creatively. First, I would like to thank Brooks Moeller, my roommate and fellow columnist, for encouraging me to apply to The Ledger at the end of Fall 2019. Also, I would like to thank Ella Lucente and Daniel Nash for giving me a chance to call myself a writer, and Aly Goss and Meghan Rand for always pushing me creatively and always cleaning up my mistakes. Lastly, I want to thank anyone who’s taken the time to pick up The Ledger and read one of my 500 world ramblings. My gratitude for this experience is incalculable.
It is bittersweet to say goodbye to the readers and student body that is UW Tacoma. I transferred to UWT only because it was 30 minutes from my parents house. I bounced around majors and just spent my time avoiding school work at every turn. When I got the job at the paper, I couldn’t believe that I would get to write for a living. Being a columnist for this beautiful little paper has shown me how passionate I am about writing. Every day, I think about all the times I wanted to quit school. If I had known what was in store for me at The Ledger, I would have applied the first day I got to UWT. Thank you, everyone.
Congratulations Class of 2020, we did it! Godspeed and good luck.
Maya Thomas – Page Designer/Web Manager
As my time here at The Ledger comes to a close, I look back on all the memories and friendships that were made, not only within the newspaper but at UW Tacoma as well. I am so thankful that these last two years I was given the opportunity to work with some of the most incredible and talented people and grew in more ways than I ever thought possible. When I first started college I was scared, intimidated and had no idea what I was doing, but I quickly found a place where I could grow and have support from those around me.
Thank you to The Ledger for giving me a home and one of the best jobs I could’ve ever asked for. I’d like to thank Ella Lucente for always being there when I needed her and helping me become the person I strive to be. Thank you Mitchell Fermo for being someone I could always count on for anything, whether that be an answer to a random history question or if I just needed company during office hours. Thank you Daniel Nash for helping me become stronger in my abilities, and a BIG thanks to my design team Marie Morgans, Phong Nguyen, and Natalie Peyton for having my back this last year, I definitely couldn’t have done any of this without you!
Even though I am so excited to continue on with my journey, I will always treasure the people and memories that this school has given me. I will miss you all more than you know but I am so very proud of this team, and the class of 2020; this one’s for you, congratulations!
Christian Bell – Opinion Editor
My two greatest passions in life are writing and service to others. Those who know me have probably heard me say this a thousand times — but I say it because it’s true.
I’m grateful that I was able to fulfill these two passions during my time at the Ledger. First as an opinion reporter and then as an opinion section editor.
With that said, I also have a confession to make. Prior to joining the Ledger, I didn’t consider myself an opinionated person.
Opinionated people — I initially thought — were boisterous voices that could be heard before they stepped in a room and wore eye-catching colors like red.
But my time at the Ledger showed me that even in my quiet nature — I am very much an opinionated person — especially when it comes to the well-being of students and our campus.
I have enjoyed sharing my opinions with all of you these past two years.
A shout out to Bengisu and Aly, my awesome reporters, our incredible illustrator Bruno, our supervisor Daniel, my fellow section editors and our editor-in-chief, Ella.
Thank you all for helping me grow my voice.
Thank you to all of our seniors! You will be missed and we can’t wait to see what you achieve in life. Congratulations to the class of 2020!
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