If someone were to tell me four years ago that I would be sitting in the corner office at The Northeastern News, I would have laughed.

Me? The editor? Impossible.

But now, my term has ended and the torch will be passed on to one of my dearest friends and an extremely talented editor.

So bear with me as I attempt to say goodbye to all of those who have inspired and even infuriated me.

For the past four years I have been a member of this organization and I believe that as my college career winds down next year, I will continue to keep this thing we call The News, close to my heart. For now, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for everything.

Looking back now I know that I have no regrets. But at the same time, I cannot believe all that has happened and all that I have experienced.

This year alone has been incredible. The year, when the university could have easily imploded or burst at the seams, it somehow stayed intact, and all underneath the watchful eye of the media. This year, some are saying “the new Northeastern” was born. This starting point, they say, will be remembered for some time to come. And to think that I was able to have a front row seat, amazes me.

When I strolled into the Curry Student Center for the first time during Summer Orientation in August 2000, I could have never imagined what the office on the fourth floor would mean to me in coming years. In no time, it became my home. I could have never guessed that the people I met within the walls of 434 CSC would become some of my best friends. Never would I have thought that my byline, which evolved from Heather Allen to Heather E. Allen and then back to Heather Allen, would ever be recognizable to anyone, other than myself and my mom. And never did I ever imagine that a newspaper was capable of creating a more confident person, simply by being that person’s safe haven.

To some, The Northeastern News is just a student group, to others it is a mediocre umbrella when the real thing has been forgotten by the door, but to me, this newspaper means so much more. It is my family, it is my passion and it is my motivation.

For all of the sleepless Tuesday nights and for the phone calls at 8 on Wednesday morning from a certain individual in University Relations to discuss a story in the latest edition, I can’t ask for more.

Every issue has shaped me. Every conflict has made me strong. I know I will miss the feeling of putting a paper to bed, and feeling that sense of pride. I will miss walking through the student center on a Wednesday watching students read the newspaper, a newspaper that has become a part of me, which will be hard to let go of.

But I think what I will miss the most are the people. The people who work so hard to produce this “thing” but who also manage to smile through the hard work. The inside jokes will continue to live on, as they have over the years. There is no doubt that our whiffle ball bat will continue to distract certain staffers and the couch will serve as a bed on more than one occasion for those willing to pull News all-nighters. It’s always been the people that have kept me coming back. And those same people will keep you, the reader, coming back each Wednesday.

So this may be farewell, but it is not good-bye. Thank you.

–Heather Allen is a junior journalism major and the Editor in Chief of The Northeastern News.