By Molly Igoe
News Editor
I’m sitting here writing my goodbye, crying, listening to the classic “Goodbye (Forever Friends)” by Vitamin C. I just turned in my thesis, which I’m so happy to be done with, but it just hit me that this is it. I am almost done at the place I’ve called my home for the past 3-and-a-half years.

I’ll try to refrain from using too many clichés, so bear with me.
Coming to Washington College was hard for me. I’ve always been very close with my parents, and even though I was only an hour away from home, it was a shock being away from them.
Thankfully, my peer mentor, Paige Kube, suggested that we check out The Elm, because she was the editor-in-chief, and she needed more writers—funny. I came to the first meeting not really sure what to expect, as I’d never written or worked for a student newspaper before.
I quickly realized that news writing was something I enjoyed and wanted to keep doing. Having a “real job” starting out so soon in college really helped ground me and gave me a sense of purpose that I don’t know if I would have found elsewhere.
This is probably the most unoriginal thing to say, but I don’t how else to say it: I wouldn’t have had the same experience I had as an undergraduate student without being involved with The Elm.
Last year, I went through a lot of difficulty in my personal life, and I remember going to the Pub House to escape everything, because that’s where I felt safe and where I could be myself. The Pub House itself has become my second home at this College, but without the people, it would just be another house.
So, I want to thank everyone who I’ve worked with who have made this job so special.
First, thank you to all the amazing ladies who have been EIC: Paige, you were such a great role model for baby freshman me; Emma, thank you for being a badass who takes no B.S.; Cat, thank you for teaching me so much about journalism, especially news writing.
Thank you to all the staff and editors throughout the years. We are lucky to have a dedicated and passionate group of writers, photographers, and comics. Thank you especially to this semester’s staff: Rosie, Dan, Savannah, Abby, Sophie, Tori, Caroline, Amy Rohn, Amy Rudolph, Andy, Gabby, and everyone else; you have made my last semester very memorable.
Thank you, Brooke, for being my last EIC; I have loved seeing you grow from a news writer, to my co-editor, to EIC.
Abby, I look forward to seeing you take on this position and hearing about all the wonderful changes you will bring to the news section.
Last but not least, thank you, Melissa, for teaching me not only how to be an unapologetically strong young woman, but teaching how to be a better student journalist. I will miss your sarcasm and humor, and your funny stories.
Being a news editor for the past three years has been a huge part of my life, arguably even more important than my academic life. I can’t begin to tell you how strange it will be not laying out at the Pub House every Monday night until 2 a.m. Even though I sometimes complained about how much work the News section is, I would never trade places in a million years with another section.
As the chorus in the song goes, “As we go on, we remember, all the times we had together.” I will forever be grateful to our little but mighty newspaper, and the people who have made it so incredibly wonderful.