Jason Mann

There’s an old saying that says “hindsight is 20/20.” When you look back on your life, you can see with perfect clarity which decisions you made were wrong and which were right. You can see which parts of your life were successful and which were not.

I’ve been reflecting on the past year quite a bit over the past few weeks. I’m not sure if it’s the hint of impending summer or the sense of finale in planning for and creating this last issue, but I can’t help but wonder if I fulfilled all the promises I made to you this past fall.

Looking back, I can see quite clearly what things I would have done differently if I had known everything that I know now. But, regardless of what I might change, I’m still full of hope for what we accomplished this past year.

I hope we informed you; I hope there was at least one story you read this year that you learned something from. (Actually, I hope you learned something from more than one story, but I would be happy with one).

I hope we entertained you, from our coverage of concerts and plays and comedians on campus and in Brookings to The College Connoisseur’s beer column.

I hope we inspired you; I hope that someone we featured, someone’s story we told you, touched you; perhaps it even inspired you to be a better person.

I hope we challenged you to take an active role in the SDSU community, to pay attention to the world around you, to take a stance on issues and attempt to make a difference.

I hope we enlightened you. I hope we covered events and issues that were important to you. I hope we were able to reach out to part of your world and share it with the rest of SDSU.

I hope The Collegian became a part of your weekly routine. I hope The Collegian became a source of news that you can trust to be fair, accurate and credible.

I know this year has been informative, entertaining, inspirational, challenging and enlightening for me. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would take on a position as demanding as editor-in-chief after such a successful year. Jeremy Fugleberg was a tough act to follow, but I think I held my own. My personal goal for this year was to not screw up all the hard work he and his staff did to make The Collegian what it is, and I hope we were successful. That’s one of those questions hindsight should be able to answer for me.

More than anything, as many times as you’ve had to read the word “hope,” I’m thankful. I’m thankful for my wonderful staff who made my job much easier than it could’ve been. Thanks for not killing each other, guys. I’m thankful for our adviser, Susan Smith, or “The Doctor” as we lovingly call her, for keeping me sane. She was thrown into her role after our first two issues had been published, and I have never been so relieved as I was the day she moved into her office. I’m thankful for Picnicface, the creators of the Powerthirst commercials. If you haven’t watched them yet, quit reading my column (temporarily) and go to collegehumor.com. But what I’m most thankful for is you. We could spend every Tuesday night from now until the end of time producing The Collegian, but it would be for nothing if we didn’t have you.