Three years with The Statesman family has definitely been an experience. I started out in the Fall of 2006, fresh-faced and straight from my high school newspaper staff, looking to pursue my relentless enthusiasm for journalism. The School of Journalism had not been founded yet, SBU and The Statesman were not fifty years old yet, and I was still considering a minor in Journalism. Nowadays, my academic career has kept me rooted in the Humanities, as an English major and History minor. Nevertheless, my interest in media is still as extensive now as it was before. Journalism, as well as photography and design, will always hold its exciting appeal to me.

I followed the senior editors’ footsteps, working directly under three of them. I entered as a contributing writer, moved on as a staff writer, and then became an assistant news/features editor. This academic year, I took over the Arts and Entertainment section and it has been a great ride, if challenging and enlightening. The A’E staff, although small, came through with many enjoyable articles from festival coverage to local entertainment spotlights. I have used the opportunity to revamp the section layout as well and I hope it has enhanced the A’E reading experience. The Statesman’s editorial board and staff are always working overtime and our work is never finished. We strive to keep our work and final product worthy of our readers’ time and attention. Our readers are unquestionably our best critics and our greatest supporters.

Congratulations to our graduating seniors on this year’s editorial board. Hats off to the incoming new editorial board of 2009-2010, especially to the new Arts and Entertainment editor, Ivanna Avalos. Here’s to another fabulous year of passion, hard work, worthy content and breaking stories!

P.S.: Check out our first issue of “The Sucolian,” our literary supplement – finally realized and brought to life!