POMP AND/OR CIRCUMSTANCE

Unless you’re presently snagged in the uncomfortable web of either taking or grading a final exam, mentally, you’re somewhere else. Are you somewhere in late July, braving triple-digit days with salty, rosy resolve? Or are you lounging on the recliner two days from now, marinating in the buttery breeze of residential air-conditioning? Regardless of where you are in the space-time continuum, we’re all looking in the same direction: forward. But before you get too caught up in the auspices of tomorrow, I’d like to look back, even if for a moment.

Ah, Page (cue reminiscent sigh). The past year seems like something out of a lucid, fantastic dream; the months passed by with equal parts whimsy and bizarre fluidity with the occasional dash of reality. As our year draws to a vacuum-sealed close, I’ve been coming down with a curious case of misplaced nostalgia, not unlike the same feeling that seems to present itself exclusively after a grand finale. After the climactic fanfare and spectacular finish fades to black, the only feeling that remains is the echoic imprint (oftentimes made more authentic with accompanying tinnitus). While my ears are presently ring-free, the conceit is just as profound. It’s been a fantastic year with you all.

I’ve been honored to work with an incredible staff that refuses to churn out anything short of sheer brilliance. You all have been creative, clever, insanely tight-knit, and supremely well-put together. As an editor, I couldn’t have asked—no, dreamed—for a better crew.

Have you seen what we accomplished? Isn’t it surreal to hold a 40-page, physical something in your hands, a product of 9 months of gestation 8 months of blather and toil, bound and spun together with compromises and nods of approval? What’s more, it’s even stranger to think about our magazine as it emerged beautifully from its more nebulous fetal stages. Look at how much it’s/we’ve grown!

Page is much more than a supremely well-published school magazine. No, she’s a surrogate home for the school’s creative consciousness, indiscriminately housing watercolor scenery with necrophilic sonnets.  We made this a reality.

Together, we underwent crash courses in Guerilla Marketing 101, Executive Decision-Making for Dummies, and most importantly, How to Work With an Indisputably Well-Rounded Team of Highly Competent Staffers. In fact, I’d venture to say we all graduated summa cum laude from that last class.

I’m convinced there’s something supernatural at work here, but all sorcery aside, I can’t thank you all enough for being a part of one of the most rewarding experiences of my high school career. I know you all will have no trouble with impressing/confusing next year’s crop of kids with an even more ambitious theme-campaign-combo.

As cliché as it is, make the most of your last year(s) in high school. Find nirvana, find yourself, or just find something to keep you occupied. Enjoy the carnival.

eternally yours,
mina, ex-eic