Where to begin?

I was new to The Daily Collegian in 2008, assuming the role of business manager. The learning curve was steep and it took quite a bit of time and effort to figure out exactly how the business worked. Through everyone’s hard work, though, this past year will be one to remember. We significantly changed The Collegian’s organizational structure, improved upon the quality of the paper, reduced our debt and are on pace to make a small profit for the year.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their contribution to The Collegian on a daily basis. Whether you are a writer, ad rep or editor, you made a difference in 2008-2009.

I do want to single out two people for their contributions: Dan Hurley and Michael King. Dan, without your hard work as the advertising manager I am quite sure The Collegian would no longer exist. There were several moments this past year when both of us got frustrated with the direction we were heading, but you stayed the course and helped us persevere. I will never forget that.

I want to thank our editor in chief Michael King for his tolerance of my antics in the office; it was something of a miracle. Any sane person would have fired me within the first two weeks for insubordination. The value that Mike has brought to The Collegian, from his leadership to work ethic, is something that cannot be measured.

This year was not all about making a profit and improving the financial standing of The Collegian; it was also about growing as a person and making personal connections. I met an interesting bunch of people while working in the dungeon that is our office. These are people that I would not have normally met in my travels around campus. I am proud to call several of my co-workers friends of mine and plan to stay in touch with them after graduating.

I strongly recommend that anyone reading this get involved in some way at The Collegian. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business major, English major or engineering major; there is something you can gain by getting involved. I have taken several life lessons from my short time with the paper and I’m sure that my co-workers will agree.

I do have one regret, and that was waiting until the spring semester of my junior year to apply for a job at The Collegian. I wish I had decided to get involved sooner.

The next few weeks are going to be a difficult time for me. Getting ready to say good-bye to so many people, half of whom I will most likely never talk to again. It is one of the lessons I have carried with me ‘- that of change.

I am quite nervous about the future of The Collegian, just like several of the executive board members of last year were nervous about leaving the paper in our hands. We rose up to the challenge and left the new group in a better situation than we were handed last May.

I am confident, however, that the new group of students who will be taking over in the fall will rise to the challenge as well, and even surpass our expectations of them.

Alex Waszczuk was the business manager at The Daily Collegian. He cannot be reached because he doesn’t want to deal with you punks.