As I write this, it’s 4:14 p.m. on my last Tuesday making the paper for The Daily Beacon, and I have no idea how to feel.

Sitting at my desk, I look around at the bright orange walls that have stained my vision for the last two years, and I’m in shock at how fast time has gone by.

In less than two weeks, I will graduate, become a University of Tennessee alumnus and fade into history among the list of all the other editors-in-chiefs of the Beacon before me.

For the first time, I don’t know what to write. I’ve been staring at a blank document for days, thinking of what my last editorial letter should be, and I have yet to come up with an idea.

But I will take that as a good sign. While I could find more to say, I don’t need to. I have accomplished my goal and told the stories I wished to tell. My work here is done.

As I leave this editorial role, I am incredibly happy to announce that my managing editor — and, more importantly, one of my great friends — Caden Dyer, will serve as the Beacon’s next EIC starting this summer.

She is one of the most intelligent women I know, and I know she will continue to lead the Beacon and grow it to be all the better.

To all our readers and community members — thank you.

Thank you for your news submissions, your kind emails of support, your corrections, your feedback and — most of all — for your voice, courage and your readership.

This paper represents its pupils — not me or anyone else on this editorial team. We serve as the mechanism by which your voice, opinions, concerns and praises may always be heard.

As cheesy as it sounds, the Beacon is a light — a torch we bear to help keep this campus more informed and well-connected. It embodies the spirit of freedom of speech, an inherent human right for all people everywhere. No matter what anyone else says.

In an age of information overload, I hope we can continue to be a breath of fresh air and share stories full of zest and hope for the future — to spark questions and ignite positive change.

That is the intent of journalism. To tell each others’ stories and act as a thorn in the side of the institutions we dwell under when necessary.

I would like to thank every member of my editorial team for bearing with me and supporting me every step of the way this past semester. You all have made this job so worthwhile. I could not have done it without each and every one of you.

I would also like to thank former EICs Bella Hughes, Abby Ann Ramsey, and Daniel Dassow for always being there when I had questions and for being a positive, reassuring voice.

I would also like to thank Nick Geidner, Shannon Scovel, Mark Harmon, Brittany Tarwater, Bradley Stringfield, Brian Canever and Melanie Faizer for all their help in cultivating my education in the School of Journalism these past two years. You all have made me a better journalist in so many ways.

While my time at The Daily Beacon is over, my journalistic career has just begun, so be on the lookout for my name in more bylines here soon.

With Love, 

Shelby Wright, Editor-in-Chief