The first last is one of the hardest. 

B-52 felt austere when I stepped into my first staff role at the news desk. I didn’t expect the work to be easy, but I didn’t foresee the challenges that came my way, either. 

InDesign was the first love-hate relationship The Fordham Ram taught me to embrace. On the first night of producing Volume 106, I was probably the last staff member to leave, agonizing over splices, proper nouns and column sizing. But despite the three rounds of editing that ended at a lovely 4:44 a.m., it was only the first of many challenges that this publication would shuttle my way. 

I spent the rest of the year breaking into the worn leather chairs that litter B-52. Week after week, I arrived on Tuesdays and dutifully filled out my pages. A drought of writers certainly didn’t make that year easier, resulting in writing three or four articles for several weeks. Looking around the room and seeing that I was one of a few faces of color only added to everything that came my way. 

But I stayed for the reporting. I relished talking to people, taking photos and writing my pieces. Being on the ground and in the field was the best practice in sharpening my writing, observation and commitment to reporting.

Covering unknown stories and breaking news was some of the most purposeful work that I’ve been fortunate to do at this university. It strengthened my responsibility and care in centering the voices I report on, and connected me with people on this campus in ways I am grateful for. 

On my way out, my first thanks goes to everyone that I’ve had the privilege of encountering in my reporting. It is with immense gratitude for the conversations and interviews I’ve had and the stories I’ve been so privileged to listen to and report on. I have learned about this university, this campus, the people in and out of it in a manner beyond what a classroom could do. Thank you for your time, for coming forward, for educating me and our readership.

In short, I loved the work, even if I wasn’t fully feeling at home in those worn chairs. But along the way, I stopped realizing when it started to take on more of a toll than it should have. 

Spending Volume 106 at the news desk was, in many ways, a training ground for the coverage that 2025 would bring. From visa revocations, a new core curriculum and NCAA basketball violations, every day has been unprecedented, each one more surprising than the last. 

It’s hard to explain just how much our paper has experienced and how fast we’ve grown over this semester. Our breaking news protocol has become refined and rapid this semester, and our news section has been focused and diligent in covering fast-paced developments. Our opinion section has printed out some of the most insightful and personal op-eds from voices that our campus needs to be hearing from right now. Our culture section has been excellent at giving so many writers the chance to write about the parts of their life that mean so much to them. And our sports section has been strong on writers and covering the changes to and investigations into our teams. To everyone on this team, I am so proud and so grateful for everything we’ve accomplished together.

This semester, it was all too easy to feel situated in my role at The Ram, even when we weren’t reporting, producing or sitting in B-52. And as the year progressed to stories that affected our own campus intimately, I cannot deny the emotional toll that this reporting took on an already tumultuous time. Many nights were spent editing, not sleeping, pondering the right words and phrasing. Not enough time was spent actually feeling and surviving the tumult and heaviness that these circumstances take on people. 

The work has been good; it has been important; it has been rewarding. But it has also taken more of a toll than a semester can accommodate.

It is with this in mind that I’m saying goodbye. While I am sad — incredibly so — to be leaving, I am so grateful for everything that this volume, this semester, this team has taught me.

Thank you, Allison, for everything you’ve done with this volume. Thank you, Sophie — this semester would not have been the same without your warmth and energy. Thank you, Nora, for every time we got to write together across Volumes 106 and 107.

All of Volume 107, thank you for the joy that you bring. I was always grateful to be in the room with you on Mondays and Tuesdays, for receiving the joy and hard work that your efforts bring forth. And thank you to every writer and photographer for the past volume. We center campus voices through campus voices — thank you for devoting your time to this paper.

To future editors, I urge you to always refocus. Assume you are scratching the surface of what needs to be told. Speak widely, ask widely, write widely. Settle into no rhythm in your reporting besides one that is after the voices and stories that aren’t being told. To the newspaper and its leadership, I urge you also to bring into your ranks those voices that The Ram has missed out on in its century-plus run on this campus. 

I titled this piece after what I sought to achieve with my time at The Ram. Breaking into a worn chair is to take what has belonged to someone and make it your own. With my time at The Ram, I am grateful for the editorship passed on to me and for the coverage, focus and heart that I’ve brought to it. 

This From the Desk is the first last of many that I’ll be making, but it is especially bittersweet.

Adithi Vimalanathan, FCRH ’26, is an English and economics double major from Jersey City, New Jersey.