Dear Observers,
Goodbyes are never easy. I’ve moved away from enough friends and family, and watched more than enough Television series finales to know this. The final episode of Steve Carell’s tenure as Michael Scott on The Office still kills me to this day. This goodbye is no exception.
Back in the late Spring of 2015, I sat down with John Mossey, then the newly appointed editor of the Mount Observer, to discuss how we were going to re-center the student newspaper come September. Over the next few months, all of the meetings, all of the e-mail exchanges, phone calls and text messages led to a brand new edition of the Observer, and a refreshed vision for the future.
When I first sat down with John, who I had met in my Shakespeare and Star Wars class, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I mean, I had written for an independent street paper in Boston for a few months prior to our chat in the cafeteria, but this was a whole different ball game. At one publication, I had written a number of stories that gave a voice to the impoverished and homeless community in Boston, but with the Observer, over the last year and a half, I have felt something much deeper in my role.
I, along with a crack team of some of the brightest and most impassioned people I have ever met, have helped give a voice to people we see almost every single day, some of which have also come onboard our ship to share their skills and viewpoints. Starting off as Arts and Entertainment Editor, and moving forward to being the Web and Social Media editor, I have had a relatively good amount of responsibility to handle in my time with the Observer, and I have loved every second of it. Sure sleep is good, but working with the Observer has given me some of the best experience I could ever ask for.
And for that, I thank you, reader. Without you, we wouldn’t have a paper. We wouldn’t have the words to fill up eight, or 10, or even sometimes 12 pages. We wouldn’t have feedback, and we wouldn’t have support. But enough with this “I” nonsense. This is a time for “we”, and a time for thanks.
First and foremost, I want to thank Susan Goldstein for being a pillar of wisdom, encouragement and for the occasional kick in the butt. Without her, the idea of the Mount Observer would still be just that — an idea. I can’t honestly even begin to thank her enough for her guidance over this last year and a half.
Stevie LaBelle and John Mossey, the editors-in-chief I have had the immense pleasure of working with, and whose daring ambitions for the paper have kept it relevant in the halls of MWCC, thank you for your patience and willingness to work with my scattered brain, and occasional last-minute submissions. Also, thank you for being so transparent and understanding.
To the number of editors, writers and photographers including Jamie Parker, Courtney Wentz, John Blombach, Patrick Miller, Joe Gallant, and Cassandra Marino, and so many of the up-and-coming Journalism 1 students. Stick with it, guys. You won’t regret it, I promise!
I look forward to seeing the future success of the Mount Observer, and, before I go, if I could just share some slight encouragement, by way of Walt Disney…
“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Stay Curious,
Jason D. Greenough
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