Editorial: These are my reflections

By Samantha Thompson
[executive editor]

This is going to be a bit of a different editorial. Usually our editorials take a critical perspective on a current event, but for this issue I’d like to borrow the space to reflect on the past semester at The Runner. This is our last issue for 2014, and I think it’s important to take time each year to reflect on what has been accomplished.

Let me start out by saying that I am incredibly proud of what our team at this newspaper have accomplished over the last semester. We have put out nine issues (a lot for a bi-weekly), many of which have had 20 to 24 pages. The Dec. 16 issue is a whopping 28 pages, something I haven’t seen The Runner do in recent memory. This amount of content wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated team of contributors, or our wonderful staff.

One of my favourite things about working in student journalism is having the opportunity to welcome first-time writers into our office. They’re never too sure what to expect, but it usually only takes an article for them to gain confidence in their writing and in their journalism skills. I am lucky to have the opportunity to witness that cycle time and time again. To all of our contributors, we are so grateful that you decided to walk through our doors, and that you have filled our pages this past semester with important, crucial and passionate stories that needed to be told (as well as some humorous ones to balance it out).

Our staff team has also changed a lot over the past several months, as we have expanded into new areas of writing and graphics. It can be risky to introduce many new staff in a short time frame, but our newest team members rose to the challenge and I am proud to say that we have a strong, cohesive group of people working together. It is especially important to have a supportive team in the world of journalism, and I think we’ve managed to do that at The Runner.

So as we head into winter break for some well-deserved rest, it is a time of thanks, of hellos, and of goodbyes.

It is a time of farewell, as we send off our former coordinating editor, Matt DiMera, onto bigger and better things. It won’t be the last time you see his byline gracing an article, as he will always work tirelessly to bring truth and awareness to the forefront of our consciousness.

It is also a time of welcome, as on Jan. 1 we will be beginning the new year with our incoming coordinating editor, Kier-Christer Junos. Kier has a fiery passion for journalism that could inspire the strongest hater of words to pick up a pen, and I am confident that he will come into the position with vision and leadership.

And finally, thank you to every single member of the KPU community: students, faculty, administration and staff. Thank you for reading our pages, for offering us stories, and for sharing your university experience with us. KPU’s plethora of clubs and student organizations shows the dedication you have to making your time at this institution special.

And you’re still looking for a team to be a part of, we’re always happy to have you here at The Runner. We’ll be back in January, stocked with New Year’s resolutions and as committed to the journalistic world as ever.