Welp. It’s over! I remember looking at some of these letters a couple of years ago and being glad I didn’t have to write one yet, but here we are! How exciting! Or not? I’m not sure yet! I guess we’ll have to find out! I think I’m currently procrastinating writing the rest of this thing by continuing to add to this paragraph so I’m gonna hit enter on my keyboard and move on to the next part.
Being a member of the Dispatch has meant a lot to me over the last few years. I initially joined after doing journalism in middle school, with the hopes of having a place where I could create things I was proud of. I managed to do not only that but a lot more than I ever expected. I am very proud of the work our team and I have done over the last couple of years. We’ve managed to maintain a consistent schedule for the website and social media and create and manage a greater amount of multimedia content than the Dispatch ever made before. I think my favorite videos I worked on were the “Dispatch Joins” videos because they combined trying to be entertaining while also being journalistic, which is somewhat different from the way we normally make videos. I’m proud that we had the idea for a new thing and managed to execute it multiple times.
To Austin and Mars:
We survived the year (surprisingly)! Through all the social media posts, story posting sessions, video shoots, Whataburger trips, and whatever else, I’m glad I was able to do it with you guys.
Mars, you’re one of the nicest people I know, as evidenced by the fact that you’re friends with like half the school. You’re a great journalist and much less awkward in general than Austin and I so thank you for carrying us in any social interaction we had to have with other people. I had a great time hanging out with you, and I could think of no better person to see Godzilla with! Thank you for being such a great friend since the day I met you. You’ve always been encouraging and I think you’re gonna be a really good businessman in a few years after college.
Austin, you have been an amazing friend throughout the last year. It’s weird to think that we only met about a year ago because now I can’t imagine doing newspaper without you. You’re easily the best video editor on our staff. With every edit and video, you pull out some new video editing trick that confuses me with how you did it. You’ve taught me so much about cameras and I, alongside many of the members of our staff, became a better creator because of you. Thank you for all you’ve done for the website and for carrying on all the days I’m exhausted or unproductive. Lastly, thank you for being a great friend! You’re going to do amazing in college and I hope to work with you again on future projects.
To Mr. Reeves:
Thank you for being the best newspaper advisor we could ask for! I admire your commitment to the paper and ensuring that it’s the best product possible while still being our product. You’ve always been very kind and helpful to me since I’ve been in your classes. You’re the reason we’re able to make the content we do and I wouldn’t be the person or journalist I am today without your help. You pushed me to be a better leader than I thought I could ever be and I’ll never forget the kindness and opportunities you gave me. Thank you!!!
To Natalie:
I am incredibly thankful for the time I was able to work with you. When I was new to staff I never had aspirations of having a leadership role and it’s because of the way you pushed me out of my comfort zone that it became something I considered, pursued, and ended up doing. I’ve always looked up to the way you were able to successfully manage the website, at times without any help, while also juggling a million other things, as well as your talent as a writer, editor, artist, and more. It goes without saying that we wouldn’t have had any of the success we had this year without you, so thank you. I’m very excited to see what you do in the film world and I hope I get to work with you again someday!
To next year’s multimedia leadership team:
It’s kind of crazy how much better all of you are already than I was in my Dispatch career. Audrey, I’m very proud of all the work you’ve done this year, particularly the way you’ve pushed yourself to try new things, being successful at all of them. Being able to write, podcast, make videos, and more, you’re going to be an amazing editor next year. Good luck scheduling those double truck stories though! I will not miss that part of this job. Don’t let Gabby make you do all of that part. Speaking of Gabby, the amount of growth you’ve shown throughout the year has been incredible. Learning everything you did in just one year as a sophomore makes me very excited to see what you’ll do next year, and the year after that. You’ve already proven yourself to be a capable leader and you’re going to do a fantastic job next year. WILL OLENICK! I have been extremely impressed by how quickly you got so great at video editing, especially with you just learning this year. It feels like with every new video you make you get better and better and I can’t wait to see that continue into next year, and see what you can teach to new students interested in video the same way you were a few months ago. With you guys running the website, I’m pretty comfortable knowing it’s in good hands. Amazing work this year, and I’m excited to see more next year.
Overall, I’m very thankful that I was able to be a part of such a great program. I’m thankful for all I’ve learned and for all of the people I’ve met thanks to the Dispatch. I’m thankful for the ways I’ve grown as a person and journalist because of the Dispatch. I’m thankful for other things too that I can’t remember as I write this but they probably exist. After graduation, I plan on attending the University of Texas at Austin for film. I know everything I learned here will be very helpful not only there, but in my life moving forward in general.
