The D.O. is, and will always be, about so much more than just me. I can’t imagine SU without it and these people. Some of the best times of my life were spent cackling with the best people in the world at ungodly hours on school nights. So cheers to:

Justin: You’re the reason I found a home at 744. Sorry I told you off for joking about using Comic Sans during my interview, and thank you for hiring me anyway.

Alexa Díaz: You are a legendary leader, and I’ve always looked up to you.

Alexa Torrens: You are so hilarious and strong and I’ve always admired the work that you do — it was such a joy to follow your footsteps.

Sara Swann: You are so easy to adore, I miss you every time I look at the boujee News editor chair. Keep spreading light and love!!

Schwed: Thank you for the Pinterest boards, laughing at my terrible freshman-year jokes and the Bozeman updates. You and Jon fed my fire for Sports design and I’ll always owe that to you both. I’ll catch you in the mountains sometime.

Jon: Part of the reason I loved designing in Sports so much was because I got to sit next to you and hear your hilarious comments. Thank you for being so friendly to a shy freshman designer.

Jacob: Ciao!! Let’s take ITA101 again because I already forgot everything. You’re ridiculous and a ridiculously talented writer. Thank you for believing in me.

Clare: I have you to thank for absolutely everything — I’m so endlessly grateful for your direction and friendship. Above all else, thank you for telling me it was possible to design AND write for The D.O., encouraging me to apply as a design editor and meeting up with me in D.C. to watch/cry over Mamma Mia.

Brigid: ROLE MODEL!! You are sunshine and are so unbelievably wonderful. Thank you for never commenting on my terrible music taste on Spotify.

Kateri: I loved every single time you draped yourself on the Visuals couch and talked about your day. You have such an eye for the world!!

Audra: You are the epitome of happiness and I love being around you. Shine on superstar!!  

Stacy: MY SUNSHINE QUEEN, thank you, endlessly, for showing me how to shine and encouraging me every step of the way. I love everything about our friendship.

Katie Czerwinski: I miss you everyday!! You’re a spectacular human being, thank you for the constant love. I will always only have good things to say about you.

Lucy & Emma: The ULTIMATE design duo, you guys inspire me constantly. Thank you for helping me figure out how to have a voice in design and for using every moment to teach me. Girls night, and every night, isn’t the same without you two.

Tomer: You are so endlessly kind. It meant the world to me — and still does! — when I felt so incredibly lost and you’d invite me over for fried rice and to talk about life. I wish everyone was a bit more like you — but only for the sake of your self-deprecation jokes, not too much more.

Charlie: I’ve never seen you not smile when you greet someone!! Thank you for standing up for us with the sign fiasco (lol) and for not hating me when I stopped watching Riverdale.

McCleary: I’ve always so admired your writing style, and I think you’re going to be an incredible Sports Editor.  

Kennedy: Hi cutie pie (get it because pies for PUP food — I missed those almost as much as I missed you this semester). You never ever fail to make people smile, and the way you encourage people is so lovely. I can’t wait to see you shine as a head ed.

Jordan: Dude, get some sleep. But actually, thank you for letting me in on the manic jokes from time to time, and please, for the sake of literally everything, stop listening to that high pitched noise.

Aishwarya: My girl, you are going to kill it as ME. I am so excited to watch your brilliance thrive!!

Kelsey: Your voice is so strong and I admire you in so many ways. Thank you for the music recs and for catching my eye when I wanted to make fun of Graham.  

Haley Robertson: I love reading everything you write. You’re a brilliant journalist and person. Keep writing and keep chasing the stories that demand to be told, because you can tell them better than anyone else. I’m always around to back you up!!

Molly: Thank you for always laughing at my bad jokes during selects. I love love love your visual eye, and how much I could always rely on you.

Sandhya: You are so freakin’ sweet, I loved getting to work closely with you this semester and complaining about how early oceanography was.

Danny: Wassup!! You’re hilarious and I can’t wait to read your column. Sorry about poker night. And D.C.

Casey Darnell: You are the most ridiculous cinnamon bun I will ever meet. Thank you for coming out of your shell. I’m always going to believe in everything you do, design to news to whatever else you want to pursue  — I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it a million more.

Diana Riojas: I’m your biggest fan, seriously. You’re stupid funny and I love laughing with you, and I absolutely love the way you see and write about the world.

Amy: I will sing your praises just for the simple joy of bragging about you. I still can’t believe I got to work with you!!

Colleen: There is nothing in the world that sounds like your laugh. Stay with it, and keep bringing sweet Hunter to the house.

Graham: You mean the world to me!! Above all else, thank you for your friendship. And the spaghetti squash — that still makes my heart melt.

KJ: Of course you’re in my duck, you goof. Your lighthearted energy never failed to crack me up and brighten my day. So surprised we never got kicked out of HOM. I can’t wait to see what you do.

Ally: HI. HI. HI. You get me hyped up like no one else in this world. Thank you for everything, for sticking through Geo classes with me, listening to my rants, bringing me coffee on a whim. Fingers crossed we work at National Geographic someday!!

Kai: I found a piece of my soul with you, seriously. You get me like no one else does. Thank you for the calming music during stressful nights and for genuinely caring about what I have to say.

Rori: HI CRAZY GIRL. I will never meet someone else like you. Stay wild. Thank you for the late night rants in our kitchen.

Lydia: You gave Pulp the most incredible makeover I’ve ever seen!! You always made me laugh and I love how willing you are to learn from everything around you. And DANG, how I will miss reading those scorching emails to your terrible writers.

Leffert: Regardless of whether you ever hated me, I adore you. Thank you for always making me laugh and for being such a leader this semester — I’m going to miss gossiping and laughing in MGMT with you. Let’s force Sam to keep #couchtalk alive.

Sarah Allam: The TALENT! The HUMOR! The eye for fashion (!!). You are an icon and a queen and I will forever be thankful that you and I met. I’m so freaking happy that I get to know you. Please invite me to see your work in the Met or the MoMA or wherever else someday, I can’t wait.

Josh Schafer: As much as we fought, you pushed me as an editor and I do appreciate that — still wanted to kill you a few times though, only because your jokes always one-upped mine. Regardless, I’d be honored to work with you again. Thank you for being so warm and welcoming to everyone you meet!! And thank you, forever ago it feels like, for the ice cream.

Talia: The second I met you I knew we would be friends. You’re such a ray of light and you inspire me constantly with everything you do!! I love our chats about everything from design to the stories we wrote in middle school. Sorry about the gluten thing, again. But seriously,  I love you and I’m going to miss the heck out of you.

Andy: I ALWAYS LAUGH WHEN I’M WITH YOU!! Effortlessly, you make everything more fun, and I always find myself seeking you out. Best dance partner and best storytelling partner I could ever ask for. I’ll always miss your mashups — though none can match up to ours —, gossiping in digital, watching you thrive as a stand in IT manager. I love you to infinity and back. I don’t even want to think about what I’m going to do without you.

Bridget: I LOVE YOU. I will forever miss laughing with you after midnight when we were waiting for the printer, or when we juked everyone out so we could slice open the MGMT couch to try to capture those freaking mice. You are an incredible and graceful Presentation Director, and your eye for design and stray chickens on the side of the road is like absolutely nothing else. Please have me over for coffee sometime at your future beautiful house or lovely apartment or wherever you end up — you are so good at making places and people feel at home.

Sam OG: When we first started out as head eds I was excited to work closer with the kickass journalist/kid I was jealous of in COM107 that I knew you as. I had no idea how close we would get — you’re one of my absolute best friends. I wouldn’t have done MGMT with anyone else, bro!! I loved every second of working alongside you, it was such a joy and an honor. Your ridiculous sense of humor never fails to crack me up. Thank you for the chats/gossip/rants/bothering our staff over Slack, hyping up every single thing I designed, saying “ehhhh” instead of just “no” when I pitched a terrible idea. Thank god we have the same music taste. You are going to do amazing things and I can’t wait for all the adventures to come, especially when you drop out and we go train hopping together. #fernsforever

Published on December 6, 2018 at 1:52 am

Contact Ali: akharfor@syr.edu