When I became culture editor, there was only one writer in our section — me.

At the first culture meeting of Vol. 106 in April 2025, no one came. To be fair, I had very little expectation that anyone would show up, but the empty conference room sucked nonetheless.

I had only been a staff writer for about a month when I received the position of culture editor. Honestly, I never even particularly wanted to be an editor because I thought it was going to be like “The Devil Wears Prada,” just without all the galas and free designer stuff. But I saw the spark of the culture section dying out, and I was the only one left to save it.

Now, in April 2026, culture meetings have so many writers that we have to bring in extra chairs.

It’s impossible to express how much the full conference room means to me. It’s everything I hoped to accomplish in Vol. 106, and I get a little teary eyed every time I think about it.

To my amazing culture section, thank you for showing up. Thank you for wanting to learn. You’ll never know how much it means to me when I see you surrounding the table, because it wasn’t too long ago that that room was completely empty.

And to Damien, Karley and Liela — thank you for being my rocks this year. You were there from my first day to my last day, and seeing you find your voices as writers and as people has been an absolute privilege.

Now onto the other side of the wall in Witherspoon 323 — the Vol. 106 Editorial Board.

I really hate talking about my feelings, but I’ll do it for you guys.

I’m going to start with the sports editors, because they’ll be like, “I ain’t reading all that” if I go on much further. Thank you for adopting me into your circle even though I don’t speak sports. I hope you feel like you taught me something, since I am leading our Men’s March Madness brackets with 91% accuracy right now.

Daniel, thank you for being so dependable and kind. You always show up to my random functions and bring such a warm, charismatic energy to the office. I’m sorry we didn’t go to Chick-Fil-A for dinner more times.

Connor, thank you for putting up with my third-grade-level sports inquiries and being the other half of the Party Planning Committee with me. You’re always a good sport about the random shenanigans I implicate you in and I really appreciate that.

Brennan, thank you for talking with me about absolutely anything for hours and hours. Even though I have an 8:30 a.m. neuroscience class on Wednesdays, I’ve still never regretted the time we’ve spent up late yapping after Tuesday print nights. We both have a really hard time shutting up, which is why we’re both going to make excellent lawyers.

But as for someone who I speak the exact same language as, to perhaps a scary degree, thank you Olivia.

Do you know that video of Andrew Garfield saying that Emma Stone is “like a shot of espresso?” That’s literally Olivia.

Olivia and I met during a showing of “Les Mis” when we were freshmen. We instantly clicked and droned on and on about the show and our various culture-related interests. We didn’t end up connecting after that, but fast forward three years, and I was hired as the Culture Editor while you were working as the Copy Desk Chief.

Our friendship was again instantaneous, and you have felt like a sister to me ever since. There is absolutely no one who I would rather talk to about pop culture, film or anything else in that realm. You are bright and brilliant, and there is no one who I would rather lead the culture section next year.

Know that even though I’ll be far away at law school, I’ll be cheering you on the whole time, and I’ll always be here for you and the section. You are going to do fantastic things.

Hector and Alex, thank you for being so dedicated to your art form and always going above and beyond with photos and videos. In particular, thank you for always being down to participate in the random projects I concocted for the culture section. You guys are super cool.

Nicole, thank you for your dedication to this publication. Not only as a Managing Editor who also took on the highly demanding role of interim Design Editor, but also as a community-builder. You are the reason that the Editorial Board of Vol. 106 are as close as we are. Your confidence in me from the start has pushed me through every hurdle and created a friendship between us that means more than I could ever express in a measly 1000 words.

Similarly, thank you Skye for coming into Vol. 106 with an open-door policy. You didn’t establish your role as a leader by isolating yourself in the editor-in-chief office and constantly reminding us of your power, but rather through giving us no choice but to respect and love you. Girl, you are so cool and so real.

Thank you to Jakob. While possibly against your will, you are one of my very best friends. You know those old grumpy guys who heckle everyone in The Muppets? Statler and Waldorf? That’s totally us. Thank you for always listening to my random stories, playing The Oregon Trail with me and always making me laugh. You are going to be a phenomenal editor-in-chief for Vol. 107, and I’m so proud of you.

Lastly, thank you to Technician for solidifying that there’s nothing I’d rather do with my life than write. As I enter my next chapter in law school, please know that I will always use my career to give back to the journalistic community that has given me so much. I will always protect integral community spaces like the culture section, and I will always fight to tell the stories of the people within them.