Dear Forum,

I’d like to start by thanking you all for this incredible opportunity. I got to be your Editor-in-Chief for not one, but two whole years. I’d also like to thank Dr. Harvey for being such an amazing mentor and a reliable faculty advisor. Her guidance has immensely helped me become the leader that I am today. 

Staff, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and editing all of your articles, episodes, comments, feedback, and suggestions over the years. I enjoyed our Breakfast Wednesdays, our pitching sessions, our New York Times News Quizzes, our column meetings, and just chatting with you all. The Forum meetings were truly the highlight of my Wednesdays. 

Editors, thank you for being such impressive colleagues. Working together with you all was truly a pleasure because you consistently pushed me as a writer and leader. I have learned so much from you and will carry that knowledge with me into the next chapter of my life. 

Readers, thank you for supporting us: for reading every article, liking every Instagram post, writing every comment, and for reaching out to our team. We always appreciate your feedback and really do care about how our publication impacts you and the rest of our community. 

I’d like to thank Wilton for being such a wonderful place. The people here inspire me to write. The people here have stories that I’ve fallen in love with. Thank you for being my muse and thank you for letting me interview you all. I hope that my articles have resonated with each and every one of you in some meaningful way. I’d also like to thank this school for encouraging me to be the absolute best student, singer, journalist, and person. You all mean so much to me. Wilton is my home. 

I will miss the people, and I will miss this job. It’s kind of surreal to reflect on this experience and how far I’ve come as an editor. I mean, I literally started by editing my friends’ essays as a freshman, but now I have read and edited around 100 articles, and over time I’ve noticed the improvement in my skills. 

I remember always experimenting with different formats or meeting agendas to figure out what worked best for The Forum. Trust me, what worked best was constantly evolving, and I actually found that to be quite delightful; everything was fresh and transcendent. I remember the different templates, the feedback forms, the website features, and the emails, all shifting over time, all crafting our Forum chime. 

This transition is quite bittersweet. I will miss you all, and yet I’m also excited for the future. I will be leaving this club in the capable hands of our new Editors-in-Chief, Ashley and Hannah. As a Forum reader myself, I am quite eager to watch this new direction. After spending the last couple years with you, I have no doubt that you will do an astounding job. 

To all of our members, I believe in you all. I wish you a beautiful and fulfilling journey in this life, because you’ve all been part of mine. I’m looking forward to staying in touch and hearing about your lives and what you’ve done and who you’ve become. I have so much love for you. I really do hope that my leadership has positively impacted you. I am so grateful for getting to know you. 

Thank you, Forum, for pushing me to write non-fiction. It warms my heart as a writer that I can use this craft to put good vibes (and reliable information) into this world. I don’t think I’m done with journalism or nonfiction writing just yet. I’m also unsure of how it’ll play a role in my future, but I have no doubt that it’ll fall into place or onto paper. 

I’d like to end this with a toast to The Forum, and to many more successful years as the Wilton High School student-led newspaper.

This is my letter. 

With love,

Gigi.