Goodbye

By Meagan Jones, Fall 2017 River editor

Adios. Au revoir. Sayonara. Adéu. Vaarwel. Hüvastu. Paalam. Hyvästi. Oant sjen. Auf wiedersehen. Orevwa. Aloha. Ban kwana. Viszontlátásra. Selamat tinggal. Slán. Addio. Pamit. Adjö. Hwyl fawr.

All are ways to say goodbye. But I can’t find a single one way I want to say it. Maybe it’s because I hate goodbyes. Maybe it’s because they carry a finality to them, meaning something has to end. They bring forth images of people walking away, suitcases rolling behind them. It’s not something I like to think about.

So, let’s talk about something else first.

Being an editor for The River was an amazing experience. I had so much fun reading everyone’s submissions. With The River, I learned so many different things, from social media (I did a lot of Instagram this semester, which is funny, because I’ve never had Instagram before), to the basics of editing, to how to deal with WordPress (our website platform), to working together with our print editors on making our literary magazine the best it can be.

I also spent quite a bit of time this semester writing my Writer’s Workshop blog series, which, I must say, probably taught me more about writing than they probably taught you about writing, as it took me forever to come up with ideas, and then I had to research them and write them out.

Some advice to new River editors: write basic ideas/outlines for posts beforehand, because you’re a university student too, and your semester will be hectic.

Some advice to people reading this in general: you should submit to The River and The Sandy River Review print issue.

Ah, I say, wiping sweat from my brow, that shameless plug is out of the way now.

In the end, thank you all for the opportunity to be involved in this journey. Thanks to Shana, and my co-editor, Richard. Couldn’t have done it without you.

 

…Well. It’s time to go, I guess. But we already know I don’t like goodbyes. Instead, I think I’ll see you later.