By Robert Frerich

As I sit in the office reflecting on what to write, I cannot help but get sentimental. It has dawned on me that my time at The Fordham Ram is drawing to a close. A new crop of eager editors is maturing among the underclassmen, ready to replace my fellow outgoing staff members and me in just over a month. It will be hard to adjust to life post-Ram. It has been so deeply intertwined with my life for the past two and a half years, but I will be leaving The Fordham Ram proud of what my fellow editors and I have accomplished.

I joined The Fordham Ram as a sophomore on the recommendation of my friend and former Editorial Director Shannon Marcoux, FCRH ’16, and it has altered my Fordham career forever. Working under former Copy Chief Katie Nolan, FCRH ’15, I quickly fell in love with the editing process and became friends with my fellow copy editors. I began staying later and longer, and eventually, Katie took a leap of faith and entrusted me to do executive reads. When application time for Volume 96 rolled around, she encouraged me to apply for assistant copy chief.

I fell headfirst into The Fordham Ram; what started as a two hour-per-week commitment was suddenly 25. After working so closely with the same people week after week, many of us became friends and the newspaper came together more naturally. That is not to say it was ever easy. We had our challenging moments (like when “The Fordham Daily” launched) but we always somehow made it through.

I have found a home in McGinley B-52, the location of The Fordham Ram office, something I was unsure as a freshman that I would find during my four years. As a biology major who is pre-med, it often seemed odd to my friends and family that I was on the newspaper but it is, in fact, one of my proudest accomplishments. Joining the newspaper was one of the most random decisions of my life, and also one of the best.

To the staff of Volumes 96 and 97, thank you. None of this would have been possible without each and every one of you. To my copy staff, thank you for returning week after week to the copy table. I know serving as a copy editor can often feel thankless, but we could not produce a paper without you.

I must especially thank Katie Nolan for believing in me and giving me tremendous amounts of guidance and support. It was an honor to work with you for the past two years; you taught me everything I know. I must also thank former staff members Kelly Kultys, Mike Cavanaugh and Max Prinz, all FCRH ’15, for serving as great role models and always setting the bar high.

To fellow seniors Katie Meyer, Joe Vitale, Nicole Horton and Anthony Pucik, all FCRH ’16, we can leave The Fordham Ram knowing that, even if we never made a perfect issue, we always gave it our best efforts. Saying goodbye to The Fordham Ram is one of the many goodbyes we will have to endure during our senior year, and one of the hardest, but I have confidence in the future staff of Volume 98 and Sydney Keen, FCRH ’17, who will replace me (and do a phenomenal job) as Copy Chief starting in a month’s time.

My advice to the reader is this: please, take a chance and pursue something that interests you. With enough dedication you may end up falling in love with it.

Anything worth working for is never easy, but I can assure you the reward when you succeed is worth all the blood, sweat and tears.