I do not know how to write editorials, so it’s probably a good thing that I am the new executive editor for The New Hampshire, which, for those of you who don’t know, means that I write an editorial twice a week.  However, I was always told that practice makes perfect.  Let’s just hope that it’s true.

I feel as though while I am writing this, I can already hear people saying to themselves, “Wait a minute, that’s not Allison Bellucci, the witty and poignant executive editor that I know and love!”  No, it is not.  It’s Colleen Irvine, your newest executive editor taking over the reigns of the student publication that brings you honest, unbiased news, twice a week.  Pleasure to meet you.  

I won’t bore you with too many facts about myself, because I’m just not very interesting.  Just know that I’m super excited to be here with you all, and I hope you feel the same.

We do things a little differently at The New Hampshire.  While students are still running around in the middle of April caught deep in the bowels of their classes, searching for the light at the end of the tunnel, our year is coming to an end. The senior staff has been training the underclassmen for a few weeks and it is finally time for the takeover.  Which explains why I’m here writing to you all today instead of my predecessor.  

On the pages following this one, you will find the senior staff’s farewell columns that the graduating TNH class has shed tear after tear writing. I encourage you to read them all carefully and not skip a single word.  

You may not know these people personally, but if you have read this paper, these individuals have a bigger influence than you may think on your life.  Each and every one has put countless hours into researching, reporting, writing, editing and designing each and every word you see on these pages.  They have put everything they have into the folds of every issue they have been involved in.  I would know, I watched it happen.  

And now, they are leaving. And next year, I will leave.  And the year after that, the cycle will continue.  It’s sad really, having to move on from the life you have built here at school.  I’ll admit that I’m feeling very blessed right now to still have a whole year to go.  But while hearing my older friends talk about their futures and graduation and moving on, I’ve started to realize one thing: life moves fast.  

One of my favorite movies as a child was the hit cinematic classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” about a teenage boy who plays hookie and dances on a parade float without getting in trouble.  In the movie, Bueller says, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”  Even though he is a fictional character with far too much luck to be real, I think that Bueller is right.

I feel like I moved into the tenth floor of Christensen yesterday.  I still smell my first breakfast at Philly.  I still see my parents driving away when dropping me off here. Where did the time go?

I guess my point is that I have 365 more days and over 50 editorials left here at UNH, so I’m going to make each one count. I’m going to stop and look around every once in awhile, because I am blessed to be here on this beautiful campus for only one more year.  I’m not going to miss it.  I hope that you don’t either.