You say goodbye and I say hello...

Late March has arrived, and though we've had an unusually warm week, we'll inevitably receive more snow before the year is out. Plans are being laid for Hot Dog Day, comedians and concerts, parties, cookouts and graduation.

Though for some graduation is just another over-the-top ceremony that is months away, others of us are feeling the pressure of buying regalia, contributing to the senior initiative, guessing who will be the Outstanding Seniors and preparing to join the so-called "real world."

Among this latter group is a large portion of the executive staff of the Fiat Lux. While some members will be here to write, edit, lay out and produce next year, some of us will not. We have completed our last issue in our positions with mixed emotions.

Certainly the newspaper requires a lot of work, and it will be nice for us to pass this duty on to younger members so that we can enjoy our last few weeks in Alfred. Some of us are relieved that terms of a year or more are drawing to a close, and that we only have to train new members before we can have our weekends back.

However, we actively chose to apply for and take these positions and all the work that goes with them. We have each learned from what we have done with this paper, and we can all say we owe some of our best friendships and skill sets to the Fiat Lux, in addition to some of our longest weekends.

It is with this bittersweet feeling that we now pass the proverbial torch to the incoming executive staff. We could offer the cliche words of wisdom in exchange for the obligatory expressions of gratitude and wishes for our future success. However, we believe those are mutually understood.

Instead, we simply say that we are grateful for the opportunities we've been given and that we've taken. We are certain that the Fiat Lux will be in good hands, and that the new staff will learn to love (and occasionally hate for short periods of time) the newspaper and all that comes with it.

There is always room for improvement, and we hope that the new staff will take advantage of the opportunity to make the Fiat Lux an even better campus publication, both online and in print.

We expect that the new staff will continue to expand the newspaper's function as a watchdog, informer and storyteller, even in the face of some serious challenges, such as the possibility of losing an adviser who has been with the Fiat Lux for 13 years.

With all change comes both discomfort and the chance to rise to the circumstances.
Those of us who are graduating face more uncertainty than we've known for the last four years, but we have no choice but to face it and make something out of it. Those who will step up to the task of running the Fiat Lux face less uncertainty, but the new opportunity will also be a chance to learn and develop.

Okay, we tried not to be cliche, but we just can't help ourselves. We have the utmost respect for this newspaper, and we trust that the new staff will handle the work admirably. Good luck, and goodbye (or is that hello, and welcome?)