I joined the California State University, Stanislaus Signal Fall 2011, and I no longer know what I am going to do without seeing the bright and smiling faces of my fellow editors every week.

I am the last staff member to leave who was at the newspaper B.G.D. (Before Google Docs). When I joined the team, we were still emailing articles around, but I feel like I was a key editor in pushing the move to Google Drive and a more online newsroom.

My job never entailed editing articles, but I have become such a stickler for the AP style guide that I even carry my own copy around with me from time to time. I was the editor sitting in the background making sure the stories made it online and the in-house computer support.

Over the last few years I have been able help the Signal website reach triple the number of visitors to our website every month while also making it cost only a fraction of what it was before I joined.

A lot of that success was due to the fantastic advising and leadership by Joseph Carranza. Over the last few years, the freedom he gave me to do what I love and am passionate about helped me grow the Signal’s online presence. I was sad to see him depart the Signal because he had grown to be more than just an advisor, but also a friend.

I have always joked with the other editors at the paper that it was my job to “kill” the print edition of the paper, but I never got my chance. However, this last semester has been even more amazing than the last because I finally got my chance to see the Signal move into a more online strategy, and I helped kill half of the printed issues in favor of more online coverage.

What helped me in this endeavor was our new advisor, Dr. Shannon Stevens, who is a match made in heaven for the Signal. I am excited to see what she has in store for the newspaper in the next few years.

Dr. Stevens also helped me implement a chat room for the newspaper that takes the fun we have every week at the Signal and make it last all day every day. Many of the chats make me laugh when I read them, and it has been key in making this semester one of the best for me.

I have been able to help the Signal become something truly amazing and something I am happy to have been part of. I have made more friends at the Signal than at any other time in my life. I would not trade this experience for anything else in the world.

I am sad to finally leave, but all good things must come to an end.

Good luck to those returning next semester and the new writers in the future.

Originally published in the California State University, Stanislaus Signal.