The end of an era...

Today, former executive editor John Wayne Ferguson (aka The Duke) will be flying to St. Petersburg, Florida as a Poynter Institute college fellow. He'll be learning the ropes of journalism in a two week "journalism boot camp" along with other top college journalists in the country, making us proud, of course.

This week, along with the others at the end of the school year, marks the end of an era. John made tons of changes to the paper, as he recorded here on Mub 156, integrating our paper with the community more than ever. And more than John - saying goodbye to Joe, Kyle, and Jake will be sad. I'm still having a tough time imagining sports without Joe's fiery rants and spontaneous high-fives.

As a news editor this year, it was interesting seeing the transformation John's passion for the paper had on us all. I think there was quite a bit of a "piggyback effect" - at least, I know that when I came back from break, many of us wanted to make a difference in the way the paper ran. When the group that went to San Diego came back, they had a vision of what our paper could be, and plenty of ideas to implement.

I have to admit, I was a bit taken aback by the increase in responsibility that came with being content editor. I'm glad I got to give the position a test drive this spring, so I know what to expect in the fall. Seriously, though - when you get at least 50 emails a day, it does get difficult to keep up. And I'm already looking for story ideas for next year - email me at tnh.news@unh.edu if you have any!

As we all leave for the summer or go off into the world in search of our next calling, I have to give a shout out of love to the organization we call The New Hampshire. It really is the people that make it all worthwhile. The late nights don't seem so bad when you have a good time with the others around you. I've never seen anybody else get so worked up over body text (yep, Meredith - I didn't forget), front page layout design (Nate has offered to give certain stunning front pages a date, if you can believe that), hockey (complete with beard-betting contests), and random photo/multimedia shots of the newsroom (Meg and John - you never know when they'll be watching!). And shout out to Tori Lewis, because, as Meg says, she's probably the only one who's not a nerd and chooses to work with us in the newsroom.

Ah, a special group, indeed. Can't wait to see what next year brings, with new Executive Editor Cam Kittle at the helm. Until then, we have a fabulous summer to enjoy.