Letter to John Michelotti, EIC

Dear John, 

On behalf of all of us at The X-ray, we would like to thank you for the incredible work you have produced over the last 4 years.  We would particularly like to highlight your role as one of our Editors-In-Chief this past year–a position you took on with an unparalleled sense of mission and purpose.  You, along with your fellow Editor-In-Chief Joseph Beeson, have been the heart and soul of this staff for these last 12 months.  

It is rare that someone with your level of passion and drive comes along.  It is clear that every word you wrote had in mind the students of this school, and your aim was to constantly serve them, even if that meant staying in B215 until the early hours of the morning.  That kind of love for the work inspired us and will continue to do so long into the future.    

At times, of course, that passion led us into trying very hard to understand your wild scribbles on the X-ray room’s whiteboards.  But there always seemed to be a masterplan in your head.  We knew that we could always trust our captain to steer us into calmer waters in the end.  

Though often it was those moments of feeling lost in panic as a deadline approached that produced the best memories.  Surely you’ll remember how we sprinted down the halls in order to clear our heads when the words wouldn’t come during Production Week.  Or how we roamed the school searching for a cell signal in order to upload a photo or audio file, the precious time we had to write slowly ticking away.  The times in which nothing seemed to be going right somehow bonded us all closer together, and made the satisfaction of printing off a finished issue all the sweeter.  

Yet that was never your goal–just to print off the paper.  It was always deeper than that.  You wanted excellence, and pushed us to be our best in everything that we did.  Every week after a new issue came out, you would come into our meeting with a list of things to be improved upon.  Your own copy of the paper would be marked up in purple pen, noting the things we should keep in mind for next time.  In this way, you continually made us better writers and thinkers, and we are beyond grateful for that fact.  

While there is much more that could be said about you, we will keep it brief.  Above all else, we want to thank you for all the work you have done at The X-ray.  While you have won countless awards (including a Blue Ribbon at NISPA this year), what we will remember is the character with which you lead this team.  As you pass the baton off and head downstate to Champaign, we will keep your teachings close to heart.    

Sincerely, 

Your friends at The X-ray