Dear seniors, 

Woah! Welcome to June! You’ve finally made it! Your job here is done. While you’re all looking forward to wherever you’re going after graduation, we underclassmen are still preoccupied with what we’re all going to do without you. Whether you were there to hear it or not, we have spoken extensively about the issue and concluded that we imagine we’ll eventually figure something out, but it won’t be easy. Every single senior fills such a unique role in the ecosystem of The Purple Tide and you’re all completely and totally irreplaceable. So as you pack up your things and file out the door of room 228, coffee in hand if you’re Grant, take a second to look back over your shoulder one last time and we hope you’ll see all the ways you’ve influenced everyone who’s stuck back here at school.

Like Anjali, our idea generator, InDesign tutor, great role model, leader and overall person. You know exactly what you’re talking about 100% of the time and whenever we’re confused, we know exactly where to go. Every time we thought we had screwed something up beyond repair, you were there to bring us right back down to earth with that cool, calm, collectedness we’ve come to expect from you and put everything back together like it was nothing. 

And Logan! Though we must say goodbye to “Logan’s corner,” that corner of the journalism room will always be yours. You can’t know the whole athletics department, but it often feels that way. Every time we needed sources, you had our backs with a whole Rolodex of contacts. Our first sports reporter, athletics translator for the less coordinated members of staff and someone who is funnier than we typically acknowledge, you will completely and totally kill it at West Virginia University.

Tyler, when we think of you, it’s consistency that comes to mind. You leave edits so fast! Your pages are always incredible and always early. It even feels like you’re in the same mood whenever we see you, like you’re always just happy to be wherever you are. But back in design land, you gave your fellow section editors something to work towards and realistically never accomplish. Though you must have known that we all looked up to you, it never got to your head. Things are going to change around here, Tyler. You’d never admit it, but we don’t think opinion pages are ever going to be that good again. We’ll try our best though. 

Gaby, you were made to be an editor-in-chief. We can totally tell you love what you do and it makes us love it too! That “go get ‘em” attitude you’ve always had makes us all envy you and the sources you’ve featured in your work. You have superhuman attention to detail and the willingness to do nearly anything for your staff. Your knowledge, inside and out, of InDesign is powerful and you wield it with responsibility—in between short work night karaoke sessions of course. 

Delya, 100% of us had something to say about that everlasting smile of yours. It’s contagious and by far our favorite quality of yours. We all give a little fist pump when we see your name near ours in the seating chart because we know it’ll be a good cycle and just exchanging hellos with you makes us feel good. You balance a killer work ethic with the ability to stop and chat like talking with us is the only thing on your agenda. You’re going to go so far at NOVA and we’ll miss the glowing positivity that floats around you.

Haley Oeur! You’re one of the coolest people we know and are so down to earth. We will miss your humor, hearing about your awful driving skills and just hanging out in general. We all watch you record, edit and publish a flawless podcast on time and think ‘I can do that’ and then learn that no, we cannot, in fact, do that. You make everything you do look so easy! And maybe it is for a multimedia wizard like you. You were particularly welcoming to the new staff members and for that, they thank you. We will miss your sarcastic announcement delivery, willingness to drop anything for a question and that ability to give impromptu feedback while we stand over you, laptop in hand. Thank you for giving your all to The Purple Tide.

Abhigna, you’re our A&E queen with admirable devotion to your section throughout the year. You’re always consistent in the reporting you do and you were there for our freshmen in the beginning of the year when everything felt new and foreign, always willing to lead and reach out a helping hand, You’re someone who is quiet but powerful: when you speak, people listen and you’ll be nothing short of an asset to Virginia Tech.

And the king of Elden Ring, AKA keeper of the coffee, AKA Gandalf, AKA Grrant: your Echo article should have won you a Pulitzer Prize and probably gotten you a ticket to the White House, but don’t worry, we’ll keep your reviewing legacy alive and make sure the story of your 18-page-long rereview of Elden Ring is passed down through generations of new reporters. Sort of like the staff’s big brother, you are the friendliest, most genuine person in the world. You’re just easy to talk to and are a fantastic listener. No matter how hyped up on caffeine you may be, you still always seem to have this relaxing energy about you and if we got close enough to you on a work night, we could sometimes stop stressing enough to finish our pages on time. Invite us to the screening of your first professional film. We’ll all be there.

And lastly, Sakina. It’s not your fault “Tahir” falls at the end of the alphabet. You were always there for a little pre-class convo and those ever-interesting topics of discussion never disappointed. As far as editors go, you were one of our most reliable. When we needed headline help or a new lead or someone to tell us whether it should be written in numerals or words, 100% of the time, wherever we were in the cycle, you were there to help us through. Your devotion to The Purple Tide—both the staff and the paper as a whole—is admirable and absolutely not lost on us. Thank you for being you.  

All the little freshmen, sophomores and juniors who have looked up to you all year will be thrilled when you come back to visit. We can’t wait to hear all about whatever you’re doing wherever you are and we really want to know what you do with your TPT email addresses. You’re the best and we miss you already.

From,

Your Underclassmen