By: Celia O’Flaherty

I’ve pushed this thought aside so many times – the thought of leaving STA, my second home.

But what’s even worse is the thought of no longer being a part of the Dart staff.

As I type this column, it still has not hit me. It hasn’t hit me that I have no more midnight publication nights or random hypotheticals. It hasn’t hit me that I will no longer be able to consistently look forward to that one newspaper class every single day. It hasn’t hit me that I will be leaving 31 of the most brilliant and creative girls I have ever met, and one courageous, inspiring and hilarious role model, whom we like to call “Dad.”

My departure is bittersweet, though. This may be a super sad time for me, but some of my most vivid memories of STA involved my fellow Dartians. When I look back on my first days on the Dart, I can’t help but laugh. Just thinking about all the ridiculous projects I attempted to do almost brings me to tears…not out of nostalgia, but out of pure pain – like the time when Kate Rohr, Lucia Maschler and I worked on an interactive graphic for months, only to find out it wouldn’t work on DNO; or the time when Hannah Wolf and I spent an entire day being whistled and stared at while shadowing a Rockhurst senior. Even though some of these moments were stressful, I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

My Dart experience wasn’t always awkward or painful, though. I’ll never forget the deafening chants of “Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!” at Ball State, or the feeling of storming into a journalism dance with a group of girls dressed in goth and tartan plaid. These moments don’t even begin to cover my time as a Newsie, but I can’t help but smile as I type them all down.

So, thank you, Newsies. Thank you Katie Hyde for truly challenging our entire staff to make our paper the best possible and never failing to make me feel super awkward. Thank you Cara McClain and Anna Leach for helping the website receive the most hits in DNO history. Thank you Katie McCombs and Mary O’Leary for making midnight publication nights so entertaining. Thank you SJD for always greeting me with a big hug and a “Ceeeeely!,” and for never ceasing to amaze us with your awesome graphics. Thank you Caitlin, Christina, Allison, Emily W, Chelsea, Emily B, Natalie, Sarah G, Rosie, Lauren, Lane, Meghan, Emily M, Sarah M, Rowan, Adrianna, Katie P, Mickey, Nikki, Erin, Abby, Kate, and Emma. Every single one of you helped the Dart and DNO be well, as Dad would say, awesome.

And don’t let me forget all of our readers. Yes, YOU. Without you, well, there’d be no Dart. There would be no reason to research, report, write, photograph, design.

I am going to miss the Dart so, so much. I will miss the way the ink from a freshly printed Dart sticks to my fingers. I will miss Mr. Thomas’ high-fives, “Ella” stories and positive attitude. I will miss getting to see Mr. Zimmerman’s smiling face every time I need a camera. Yes, I will even miss Kate Rohr’s punches and Caitlin Fletcher’s sassy comments. Sort of.

There’s nothing exactly like the Dart, and that’s what makes it so great.

I’ll miss you all, thanks for a great time.

And the world will know!

-Newsies

*Side note: I’d like to especially thank Lucy Edmonds, Fred Caveau and Jim McCrossin for challenging me to be a better photographer, and making my non-air-conditioned Ball State Journalism Camp experience one of the highlights of my high school career (can anybody say “WATAAA??”).