Since the very beginning of my academic career, I heard about The Lantern. Whether it was listening to brainstorming from across the dinner table every week or admiring the newest editions during rides home from school, this newspaper has been a rare constant in my life and I could not be more thankful for it.
My oldest brother, Cole McKee, began his high school career in 2012, the same year I started kindergarten, and while I do not know why he first took the class, what I do know is from that point, with the exception of one year, there has been a McKee on staff for the last thirteen years, a tradition I was happy to continue.
Lantern was my first period class freshman year, so consequently it was the first high school class I ever attended, and since I had missed orientation, I was completely lost when I first walked into the high school. I was walking around completely lost and with my first day of school, nerves pumping, when I ran into Colton Carmichael.
Colton was a senior I knew from football and the only other person I knew to be in Lantern. That first day, while he seemed to be directing traffic in the halls, he took the time to take me under his wing and showed me to class, the first of many examples of the support that a class like Lantern gave me throughout high school.
I often compare Lantern to the Breakfast Club. Our staff is a group of people from different backgrounds, activities and cliques, but once a day we come together to work toward something great, and nothing really compares to that. I hope that in the future I can find another group of people that really buys in like our Lantern staff has, it was an honor to have led it the last two years.
Working as the Co Editor-in-Chief of this paper for the past two years was an enormous honor to me, not only was I able to follow in my brother’s footsteps, but it gave me an opportunity to lead in a very unique way. While I loved editing, correcting an untold number of contractions over the years, what I truly enjoyed was learning how people wrote. Every person, especially at our level, has their own unique voice, and you really get to know something about people by analyzing their writing. While you may not know the depths of them personally, editing does give you a peek into how they think, how they look at the world, I will really miss that connection.
Looking forward, I plan to attend The Ohio State University, majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and while my plans for a future career are far removed from journalism, the lessons I have learned with this publication will last me far beyond any career. I always say this is not just a journalistic writing class, and while I will miss correcting contractions every week, Lantern really is a people learning class. My work here has genuinely made me into a much more inquisitive, open person and I will forever be grateful for that.
Thank you to Mr. Silvidi, Natalie, Chloe, Maggie, Colton, James, Rin, Kaylynn, Arfons and all of the other fantastic people and journalists I have had the honor of working with throughout my time in Lantern, the memories will last a lifetime. Aidan McKee, signing off.
