So Long and Farewell

I came to U.S. News in 2008 as a wide-eyed intern working on the copy desk. Whenever I was editing, I always jumped at the chance to read Paper Trail posts from my predecessor, Alison Go. When I was asked in early 2009 if I wanted to take over the blog, I was excited. I'd heard how much fun it was to write Paper Trail and how crazy both college news and college kids were.

What I'd heard was true.

Over the next year, the college news circuit took me on a wild ride. There were horrible lows and some nice highs, with a lot of weird stuff in between. And I still can't believe that a short little post about Climategate got so many comments and page views.

But if there's one thing that I can take away from this experience, it's that no one has more enthusiasm, more pizzazz, and more drive than college journalists. In many ways, the collegiate reporters I followed on a daily basis inspired me. There's something to be said about the youthful exuberance that college media provide—it breathes some much-needed life into a beaten-down journalism industry.

So, now that I'm off my soapbox, I just want to say thanks: to the college journalists who gave me so much fodder to blog in the past year, to the other college news bloggers who always found great stuff and kept us laughing, and to the readers who never missed a beat.

All the best,

Jeff