Cliches are cliches for a reason. They're overused because they're true. So when I incorporate the cliche "blood, sweat and tears" to describe the effort we put into producing The Auburn Plainsman this year, I incorporate it because it's nothing short of the truth.
We've sacrificed regular sleeping hours, our social lives and, many times, our grades to create the best product we could. But, this isn't about us. It's about you, our readers.
All of the work we've done (and will continue to do) is done to serve the Auburn community. Take Tuesday, April 15, for example. We didn't care about sleeping, getting our school work done or putting the print product of The Plainsman together when news broke about a threat to our campus.
We cared about providing our readers with as much information as we could get our hands on. That night, I knew we would work until there was nothing left to report, and that our readers would follow us through that process.
So, while this year's staff deserves my overwhelming gratitude for putting their all into The Plainsman, you deserve my deepest thanks for supporting our work.
Thank you for reading what we write. Thank you for caring enough to stay informed. And thank you for letting us know when you think we could be doing a better job.
I've learned more from serving one year as editor than I have in the first three years of my college career combined, and your feedback has been a vital part of that.
I hope our work here has helped you learn something you didn't know either.
My time at The Plainsman is coming to an end, but The Plainsman itself is not. This newspaper is powered by the strength and talent of Auburn students who take their responsibility as Plainsman staffers seriously. Part of our duty is to challenge Auburn in hopes of bettering it.
I encourage all of you to join us in that challenge. Challenge yourselves, challenge each other and challenge us to perform at a level of excellency.
If nothing else, challenge yourself to stay informed about what's going on at Auburn University through The Plainsman.
It's only through this constant challenging that we'll truly foster a spirit that is not afraid.
The saying goes to leave a place better than how you found it. I'm not sure if I've succeeded in this at The Plainsman, but I've sure enjoyed the hell out of trying.
Kelsey Davis is editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman. She can be contacted via email at kod0002@auburn.edu.
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