Daily Bruin has always been about the people.

In the spirit of that sentiment, I will spare you the spiel of how much I grew and learned from being a part of this organization – as a contributor, assistant Photo editor, senior staffer, Photo editor and senior staffer again (in that order). Though my path was more tumultuous than most, my personal experience at the paper largely aligns with what my peers of both past and present have elaborated on so eloquently in their own columns.

Instead, consider this an award acceptance speech because I have many people to thank for helping become the person I am today.

To Ashley, Sakshi, Anika and David, thank you for creating the most welcoming, engaging and inspiring environment that an aimless first-year student could ask for (#mostlitsection). I look up to you all more than you know, and it means the world to me that you believed in me.

To Anya and Kyle, thank you for being the first friends I made here and for being the funniest people I have ever met. You never fail to brighten my day.

To Christine and Shaanth, thank you for your unwavering support and friendship. You both have this immense passion, talented skillset and unparalleled work ethic that inspire me to do my best. I am grateful that we can always pick up right where we left off, and I am so excited to meet you wherever you are in the world.

To my Arts family – Talia, Dannela, Graci, Reid, Victoria and Sanjana – no one does like us! Thank you for welcoming me into your beloved section with open arms and being the best people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I become more knowledgeable and charismatic every second I am in your presence.

And to Jeremy, thank you for going through this insane journey with me.

Daily Bruin has always been about the people – but also about the pictures. Here are some highlights of my favorite pictures with a few of my favorite people at the Bruin.

I smile below my predecessors Kanishka Mehra, Ashley Kenney and Sakshi Joglekar. This was taken at my first -30- celebration, which marked my start as a Daily Bruin editor.

Christine Kao and I hug at the spring 2023 PRIME launch party, where the theme was PRIME wedding.

Victoria Li, Jeremy Chen, Anika Chakrabarti and I smile at the camera during the winter 2023 Daily Bruin retreat.

Three generations of Photo editors hold ice cream at the annual Photo editor trip to Salt & Straw.

I smile with my lovely cohort of Arts editors at the final -30- celebration I attended.

Cai was a Photo and Arts senior staffer 2024-2025, Photo editor and senior staffer 2023-2024, assistant Photo editor 2022-2023 and Photo contributor 2021-2022.