Farewell to the V Formers of The Lawrence CXLIV

After being involved in The Lawrence for four years, Li has learned “to work with people and cultivate a productive working environment.” When describing the 144th Board’s vibrant office hours, Li commented, “We laugh, we joke, and there is always more to say, but the pages are waiting, and as EIC, a big part of my job is to find the balance between a lively and productive worksphere.” She also learned to work hand-in-hand with Executive Editor Imani Gaskin ’25. “I truly appreciate what [Gaskin] does for me. While collaborating with her, I am always confident that our work is completed on time and with high quality,” she said. Li will miss the weekly feed as well as The Lawrence office, which she calls a “quaint little space.” Above all, Li will miss the people: “When the Board first met, we barely knew each other. But after a year of working together as editors, they [have become] my friends both in and outside [of the office].” Li recalled her journey with The Lawrence, whereby she discovered her love for writing and reporting. “A turning point was interviewing Student Council President Andrew Boanoh ’23, whom I’d never thought I would talk to in my [III Form] year. The Lawrence gave me the courage to reach out to people I am unfamiliar with,” Li concluded. 

“Working in hand with a large group of people honed my communication skills,” Gaskin said, “I learned what is needed to foster a cohesive group.” Gaskin will miss the people at The Lawrence, especially Li and Sophie Cheng ’25, as well as “the free food from the feed every Thursday.” Recalling her first night in the office as Executive Editor, Gaskin “felt very overwhelmed.” She noted that despite facing stress that night, “everyone was very nice, and [her] old Opinions Editor [Garrett Heffern ’24] as well as EIC of the 143rd Board Claire Jiang ’24 were both very supportive, showing me the kind of caring community I was entering into.” “I never thought that I would love The Lawrence so much. I can’t imagine my Wednesday and Thursday nights not being spent in the office,” Gaskin concluded.

Working together as News Editors, Cheng and Potter “definitely realized how fun it is to work with others,” according to Potter. “Maintaining a good line of communication with the writers is very important, and it’s about the friendships you made along the way,” Cheng added. Both Cheng and Potter are going to miss the Diet Coke and feeds during the long nights working in the office. “In addition to all the things I’ve learned in work and writing, I’ve also helped others learn how Diet Coke is the best drink—now it is the favorite drink of everyone on the Board,” Cheng said. Looking back to their first articles, Potter remembers “how excited [he] was to see [his] writing on the front page that week.” Cheng recalled that “[she] always wrote together with [her] friends, and it was such an enjoyable process.” 

As Co-Opinions Editor, Vishwakarma’s goal has always been “to increase the Opinion section's presence at Lawrenceville with a simple question: ‘what keeps you awake at night?’” Coming into the job, Vishwakarma thought that she would receive many viewpoints on issues in and out of Lawrenceville. However, she quickly learned that “in a digital age, people are apt to only complain to those who will agree with them. Coaxing them into sharing their thoughts with the broader community is harder.” Vishwakarma’s Co-Editor Ottaway had similar intentions: “I always remind myself to approach my duty as the editor with purpose. The Lawrence does have a voice, and it plays a significant role in directing the opinions of the whole Lawrenceville community.” Vishwakarma shared a long list of the things she will miss: “Long hours in the office with people who [she] loves, seeing an article bloom into its most powerful form, greeting whichever faculty members on arts rotation…” She furthered that The Lawrence has “permanently changed [her] relationship with Lawrenceville. [She] has learned about [herself] and [her] role in the world, and [she] will always be someone who smiles and collects people’s opinions on the current events.” Ottaway’s advice for the 145th Board is to “never lose sight of your purpose at The Lawrence. Working for the newspaper can be challenging, but once you ground yourself in this commitment, it will be an extremely rewarding experience.” 

After two years as the Sports Editor, Boanoh found the unpredictability of editing especially challenging. “A lot of times, the actual outline of your page will not align with your expectations, so you learn how to adapt to unpredicted changes,” he said. When asked about his perspective on the Board’s atmosphere, Boanoh said “there are always jokes flying around, and despite having to face the pressure of deadlines, [they] bond over stress.” Boanoh had a full-circle moment in The Lawrence, as he remembered that the first article he read was on the V Formers of the 142nd Board. 

During her time as the Arts Editor, Ivancic became acquainted with “format and styles that can immediately grab people’s attention and encourage them to read through all the articles.” One of the challenges that she faced was the limited space allocated for the Arts section:  “Because Arts only has one page, trying to manage the plentiful contents that writers submit has been challenging.” Ivancic described her favorite part of being a Board member as “having genuine conversations with [her] editor friends and laughing at [their] inside jokes during office hours. [She] looks forward to [these moments] every week.”

Zhao feels that she improved her own writing ability in the process of editing others’ articles. “Sometimes [while editing] I’ll read phrases and structures that I really enjoy, and I try to incorporate those elements into my own writing,” Zhao said. Sutter mentioned that “it was stressful as a new editor; [she] was scared that [she] might not be qualified enough.” However, she believed that “it was a learning process, and over time, [she] also learned what to look for in a Features article.” Zhao will miss the members of the Board, noting that “[she] knew several Board members peripherally before 144, so working on the Board has been a cherished opportunity to get to know them more.” Sutter agrees: “I look forward to being around such amazing people every week, and I truly respect every editor on the Board.” Sutter concluded with a suggestion for the Lawrenceville community: “People really should write; it could be scary at first, but the editors are not all-knowing, so [students and faculty] should always have the courage to share [their] voice.”

Dzidzikashvili mentioned how her role has “taught [her] the importance of details, as grammatical structure can make or break an article…It is easy to miss the most trivial details, but it is those smallest aspects that add up to make the bigger picture—not only in writing but also in life.” Wang agreed: “Before being Copy Editor, I wasn’t expecting this amount of workload; in truth, I found a lot of things to work on as Copy Editor, and I always double-checked my work to make sure all errors are corrected.” Through this process, Wang learned to “be a go-getter and take initiatives.” Dzidzikashvili remembered her experience of writing an Opinions article on generational trauma: “The Lawrence gave me the space to explore meaningful and relevant topics,” she said, “and through the process of writing, I am always excited to interact with people from different backgrounds.”

Web Editor Okamura described how it was “[her] first time inheriting a system from other [web] developers from the 142nd Board, so [she] learned to figure out the existing information instead of making up new ones.” Okamura highlighted how “listening to all the back-and-forth  arguments in the office that shaped the editorial each week was a truly valuable experience.” She noted how “sharing the evening time together and having fun conversations will remain [her] fond memories.”

Ryu learned “a lot more about working with other people and the entire journalism process” during her time as the Graphics Editor, and she will always look back to “the people, the office, and the late nights.” Recalling her first time contributing to the Graphics Section during her II Form year, she felt “very daunted.” However, “the feeling of seeing [her] artwork being published on paper was refreshing and thrilling. Then, it easily became [her] weekly routine.”

Zhang’s favorite part of her role as the Social Media and Outreach Editor was “making graphics for the social media account of The Lawrence.” Like many other Board members, the insightful conversations during office hours, as well as the delicious feeds, are Zhang’s favorite memories. Zhang recalled how she “got into The Lawrence because of [her] friends.” She “started as an Outreach Associate, and [she] enjoyed working with former Social Media and Outreach Editor Sofia Bonilla ’24 who supported her during the whole process.”