It has always been my opinion that no person exists in a vacuum. Each and every one of us is a mosaic of the souls we have ever crossed paths with, all mixed and mashed into a beautiful and new unique combination.

This is not only the case for every person but for this newspaper as well.

You might have some vague idea about how much work goes into making these 12 to 16 pages each week, but I promise that you will not be able to truly fathom it until you actually take part in it. Hell, I have been a section editor for 15 weeks now and a columnist for twice that, and I still probably do not even know the half of what those above me do in order to get this paper into your hands.

So, for this final spring 2022 edition, it seems fitting to dedicate at least a small part of this paper to everyone who has made it possible these past months — especially those who have helped me get to where I am. This is my letter, after all.

This letter is dedicated to each of my columnists — their ideas, their opinions and their words are the foundation of the opinion section. Each column, no matter how brief, is a snapshot of a point in history. It all begins with you guys.

It is dedicated to every section editor at the Evergreen. Their hard work and creative visions take the paper from a collection of documents to a stunning, cohesive edition each week.

It is dedicated to our copy editors. They are the bane of my existence, and yet we would be nowhere without them.

It is dedicated to all of our supervisory adult staff, whose knowledge and expertise will guide the next generation of professional journalists.

It is dedicated to Meg and Sandi, our managing editor and editor-in-chief, who pour their hearts and souls into this paper and their writers and editors every single day. Their energy and kindness bring a lightness to an extremely demanding job, and we can only hope that the next people to hold their positions will carry this forth.

It is dedicated to all the Evergreen staff who are graduating this year and moving on to bigger and better things. Hopefully, you will look back on your time here as the start of something great as you make your mark on the world.

And finally, it is dedicated to you.

Every edition of the Daily Evergreen is a love letter to our readers. Without people to read this paper and use our words to add to the marketplace of ideas, there would be no reason to write at all.

I am filled with nothing but gratitude for this semester and the work we did over its course and nothing but excitement for what is to come. Thank you to everyone involved.

From your spring 2022 opinion editor,

Kestra Engstrom