Each year, graduating editors are given 30 final column inches — “30” was historically used to signify the end of a story — to reflect on their time at The Hatchet, published in the final issues of the year.
Missing desktops and non-transferable fonts and hard-working hippos, oh my! My personal laptop may never recover after I depart The Hatchet and graduate from GW. I pop open Adobe InDesign each week while my computer’s fans whir in protest, churning through pages and chasing after elusive fonts. Bouts of Adobe updates, Mac glitches and intense townhouse basement discussion on design elements occasionally make this weekly process more complex.
I was successfully drawn into The Hatchet web by my first friend at GW, Núria. At the start of our sophomore year, I remember looking through the application for the cartoons sub-section in her dorm room while she filled out questions for her upcoming editorial board meeting. She encouraged me to apply after we learned the design team was filled for that volume.
The cartoon requests at the beginning were very cut-and-dried: I received the request and drew a matching cartoon, no questions asked. When I later joined staff as the contributing design editor, I became emboldened. I started to question the logic of the request, read the piece before sketching my drafts and would talk with the opinions editor, Ethan, about the vision for the cartoon.
These “visions” were not always beautiful renditions of a current issue, but oftentimes silly — hippos working as newscasters, lab scientists or security guards. The cartoons brought the joy and practice of drawing back into my life when I thought I had left those skills behind in high school, and I will really miss this comfort post-graduation.
Outside of my cartoonist work as the contributing design editor, our team’s output may seem straightforward, but these decisions are something that I take seriously. In my work with the design editors, Isabella and Grace, there can be scholarly conversations on using single lines versus double lines and debates on opacity percentage that you would never believe. I get excited when inspiration strikes as we work on our myriad guides and when a difficult page finally fits perfectly. We celebrate in the townhouse basement when a highly contested design element finally lands and gab about the questionable nature of the cartoon’s hippo hands/claws/feet/paws that I drew that week.
I never thought I would be surrounded by a team that cares this deeply about what many consider to be a bygone era. Even my cartoons, a small and inconsistent element of the Opinions page, have been edited to great lengths over the years to accurately depict the story.
Executing the print edition has instilled in me a great pride in the work that the design team does and will continue to do. I am amazed by each staff member’s pure willpower, and our pages only exist because of the output by the other powerhouse sections. The passion seeps through each story that we place onto the page, and I am so grateful to have been a part of the energy for the past year and a half.
To everyone who has made my time on staff so wonderful:
Isabella: The evolution of our mind-meld throughout our fall semester collaborations is a delightful and terrifying thing to behold. As my first and last design editor, I have always been amazed by your ability to power through Sunday prodos while sometimes having to re-work our pages based on the needs of the week. You were a gracious co-navigator to have as I was learning InDesign for the first time, and you have one of the best eyes for composition and design out of anyone I have ever met. When the vision for a guide finally clicks and we start finishing each other’s “You know what we could do…?” sentences with next steps, there is no better feeling knowing that we have the exact same visualization. I am most proud of the guides we worked on together!
Grace: My interim design editor before your departure from design to management, your influence on the design section and the paper as design editor for 2 years is ever-lasting. You set the tone for what the design section looks like today and continue to bring massive amounts of passion for layout even as managing director this year. The support for our team is always felt, and I miss you working on pages with us, but our recent collaboration for Hatchet merchandise is forever captured on my new hoodie! You have such a gift in being able to extend your creative wings and influence to the far edges of this paper.
Núria: A paragraph will not suffice to represent the immense gratitude that I have for you. I watched from the sidelines as you talked endlessly about the Hatchet culture before you brought me into the fold, something I never would have done without your encouragement and validation. I am so glad that you brought me into a space that you had already well explored and taught me all the ropes. We are probably one of the only UW 1020 freshman grouping success stories, and I have never been happier for a random assignment in my whole life. You are the preeminence of loyalty and a beacon of support and tenacity that has been showcased time and time again inside and outside of The Hatchet. I cannot wait to see where all of your hard work takes you.
Ethan Benn: Starting a Hatchet D&D was the most masterful and long-lasting staff bonding activity that anyone has ever done, and I would not have half of the relationships that I have on staff today if it wasn’t for your initiative. We joke about you running a tight ship, but it is so true and very admirable. You are endlessly creative and empathetic in every approach, something that is very hard to execute as a leader, and you are the #1 supporter of my hippo endeavors!
Ishani: I remember Núria introducing us outside one of SMPA’s orientation events during our sophomore year, with her promising that we would get along very well. As we discovered our shared love for seeing stupid movies on the big screen and Dropout’s various productions, Núria was right. I would pick no one else to sit next to in the USC basement as we decipher Ethan’s clues and fail our saving throws. I will miss hearing about the various difficulties in web integrations of the crazy guides!
Nicholas & An: You are bright lights during visuals meetings and in the basements, endlessly persistent in ensuring the graphics are perfect each week while handling any and all feedback with grace. The endless hours dedicated to updating the Slack channel sets yourselves up for an amazing legacy in producing consistent and clean graphics for our issues. On guide days I do it all just to help pop in your graphics onto the spread at the end of the night.
Jaden: Eternal townhouse basement-dweller in the best possible way. This semester, I have enjoyed working in the quiet basement with you and Isabella throughout the early afternoon of prodos as we cry from laughter about entrapment or deliberate over the necessity of motifs. Though I head out before the madness truly descends, those few chill hours on Sundays are always very much needed. Let your wonderful copy editing that I’ve heard so much about take you far and wide!
Nick and Zach: Nick, design and page layout is your second calling, with your precise feedback on spreads and ideas for the front page being a priority for you on Sundays. Zach, you and Nick always approach our proposals and drafts with excitement and big smiles. You both have so much trust in our section, letting us run free with our ideas but reeling us back in when we lose the plot. The design team could not ask for more considerate leaders.
Abby and Anusha: The new co-contributors! Taking over a position mid-volume is a difficult task for anyone, but I know you two will take on the spring semester with healthy curiosity, fresh eyes and a willingness to learn. I cannot wait to look at all of your papers and guides that you will end up making. Please have so much fun with it and cherish this time that you get to spend with such a great section.
Auden and the photo editors: I miss out on the majority of excitement of photography throughout the week, but there is nothing like seeing the unchanged photo computer’s screen saver to know the section is alive and well. Auden, your calmness and composure in the basement when it feels like there are a million people crammed into 10 chairs is amazing. You lead the photo team with such amiability and a level head!
Cristina, Shea, and Lindsay: Though this is the first piece of writing I have ever done for The Hatchet that requires copy editing, I still have had the privilege of seeing your initials dart across the workflow every week. When I get to the basement and see you three sitting in a row, I know it’s time for me to get working. Your ability to collaborate and communicate with writers and editors alike is something that I have always admired!
Jenna and Nick: Jenna, my co-cartoonist during the great cartoon plague of Volume 118, your work on both your illustrations and in culture continue to amaze me. You and Nick make for amazing culture heads and the crazy headlines that we get from the budgeting doc always get me so excited to see what the guide is going to have in store for us.
Jarrod: My first EIC! I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you for all of your support on Volume 119 during my first year. Coming into staff as a junior to join an established group of upperclassmen was difficult, but I have always deeply appreciated your kindness, as well as your meticulous attention paid towards every aspect of cartoons and layout.
Family and friends:
Mom, Dad, Sheila, Felix and Ozzie: The most permanent witnesses to my tendency to bite off more than I can chew, and the loving/begrudged recipients of my chosen arts & crafts project of the month, whether that be a wonky scarf or a mis-counted cross stitch. With your unwavering support and full understanding of how I operate, I have never felt that I couldn’t give anything a try. All the love!
Elizabeth: The first person to see the hastily drawn drafts of all my cartoons before I send them off, and even looking over on the couch to edit my 30 as I write it, you are the best roommate and friend. I will never make up for the lost brunches we couldn’t schedule on Sundays, but I will certainly try after we graduate. I cannot understate my immense gratefulness that we have stuck by each other’s sides throughout everything.
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