The Endings & Beginnings Issue is, first and foremost, a dedication to the Class of 2018.

This is Hatter Network’s final issue of The Reporter for the year. Graduation is, at the time of my writing this, 15 days away (copy editor’s note: originally published in the print issue which was released Wednesday, May 2).

The content largely features the senior class and is meant to function as a sort of yearbook, a time capsule that when opened in 17 years or so, will allow in a flood of memories.

This special edition senior issue was conceived with the feeling that though we, seniors, are ending our time here at Stetson, within that reality, small seeds of the future are being planted and primed to blossom, growing a new beginning.

The Endings & Beginnings Issue also seeks to feature the endings and beginnings of phenomenons present in modern culture. Kaitlyn and Hali’s Parkland survivor-activists piece postulates about the Florida school shooting as the ending of silence around gun violence. LGBTQ and A’s hopes to spark the beginning of conversations around Greek Life heteronormativity and LGBTQ+ members.

The Endings & Beginnings Issue is an ode to the spirit of impermanence.

It really does end. All of it. College. Relationships. The Stetson discount. And even our breaths are numbered. May we honor this natural cycle of growth and decay as we propel forward into the world as global citizens.

When I started in this position, I was eager to excel, to pull a Hermione Granger, get an A+ and do the very best possible job. What I learned was that leadership is much less about doing all of it yourself and much more about an exchange of empowering others and being empowered by others. This all made sense when I drew commonalities from the teachers in my life who changed the game for me: Rajinder Singh, Andy Dehnart, Andrew Larson, Melinda Hall, Madison Creech, and Amandine Pras.

This issue is, in part, dedicated to them and to the great teachers who inspire us to do our own research, to consider how our actions affect others, and to exercise compassion in our daily movements.

To the staff of Hatter Network, you bunch of newshounds and writers, podcasters and poets, photographers, designers, and social media stars, and to Crystal Baroni, our student media mom, and Andy Dehnart, our student media uncle: your zeal for the proliferation of student journalism and art keeps this 131-year-old engine burning and I thank you for your work as public servants. Congratulations to the new Editorial Board of Hatter Network who will continue to produce The Reporter as well as HatterNetwork.com, Touchstone literary and creative arts journal, and WHAT Radio.

I look forward to creeping on all of Hatter Network’s social media, commenting as an alumni (wink), and feeling like a proud parent on Move-In Day, the beginning.