Daily Bruin relationships and experiences are fit for a king

All around the walls of the Daily Bruin ““ climbing up the sides of cubicles, layered on top of metal cabinets and generally occupying any piece of free horizontal space ““ are pieces of white printer paper with quotes typed on them. Some are from current staffers, many are not, but they all serve as reminders that the newspaper we produce is only the sum of the individuals who compose it.

During my time at the Bruin, the 30 columns I’ve admired the most are the ones that recognize the unique impact that people working for the paper had on the writer. In that same vein, I’d like to give thanks to the following people:

to Maggie and Will, for cigarettes outside of Kerckhoff, and some of the best conversations of my college career.

To Kate, for beers before banquet, and for showing me that my opinion had the power to change someone’s mind.

To Jess Lum, for late-night pork ribs on the roof of her apartment, and through her adversity, for giving me perspective on what’s really important in life.

To Jess Tan, whom I adore, for sharing the pains of office (and often personal) life with humor.

To Sam Schaefer and Theresa, partners in crime from the same intern class, for putting up with me as long as they have.

To Carolyn and Paige, for their laughs, smiles and stripes.

To Maya, because she likes to party.

To Matt Stevens, the best writer I know, for sharing articles, expertise and many nights with shopping carts involved that I don’t think I could forget even if the whole sky fell.

To Udeitha, for telling me late one night at Drake Stadium that a real journalist doesn’t write half-assed.

To Kim Lajcik, and I can’t put this any other way, for simply being Kim.

To News, a&e, Sports, Photo and Design ““ in that order ““ for giving me any semblance of what can be called a love life while I’ve been in college.

To Edward, Alene, Esther, Machiko, Jess Roy, Anthony, Audrey, Carol, Kendall, Tiff, Max Chang, Millie and Amber for reasons I can’t quite enunciate but are equally significant.

And to those of you whom I neglected to mention, I’m sorry, but I know you appreciate the limitations of inch counts.

In a small token of vanity I added a quote of my own to the wall of the office while working on this column; it sits right above the managing editor’s desk where I, as a lowly news intern, would have been able to see it while I waited to have my stories edited. Taken from an article by Mark Bowden, “The Story Behind the Story,” the quote encapsulates, at its best, what I think our paper is capable of achieving, and the fulfillment, at points, I’ve received while working here.

“Journalism, done right, is enormously powerful precisely because it does not seek power. It seeks truth. Those who forsake it to shill for a product or a candidate or a party or an ideology diminish their own power. They are missing the most joyful part of the job.

“This is what H. L. Mencken was getting at when he famously described his early years as a Baltimore Sun reporter. He called it the life of kings.”

Thanks to this paper and the people in it, I’ve lived the life of a king.

Elliott was a columnist from 2009-2011, an assistant viewpoint editor for 2008-2009 and a news writer for 2007-2008.