Dear Reader,

“I’m sooo excited!” exclaimed soprano Sumi Jo, as she described her emotions right before delivering her special lecture to KAIST students. It was her first time giving a lecture about herself to anyone, but rather than being worried too much, she was filled with excitement and anticipation about what this new experience will bring to her. As her energy radiated throughout the auditorium, I could not help but think about the first moments of my two-year-long journey of being the Editor of the Herald.

A lot of people have asked, “Why did you decide to become the Editor?” Frankly speaking, it’s still quite hard to define. It wasn’t anything close to some sort of dedication to our only student English newspaper; it was more of an impulsive choice driven by the thought that “It sounds fun” and “When else would I have a chance to become an Editor of a newspaper?” We never know what the future holds for us, so I cannot say that the latter will necessarily be true, but I can confidently say that the former was true — well, sometimes.

The past two years as Herald’s Editor has been enjoyable, but at the same time, very draining: spending countless hours agonizing over articles in the clubroom, returning to my dorm room at 5 a.m. becoming a normality during editing weekends, and confronting difficult decisions and feedback. After all, we aren’t professional journalists, and when I discovered my physical and mental health crashing during editing weeks, I found it difficult to find motivation to push myself through the work. The excitement about the new job lost momentum after my first semester.

“Someone has to do it” was the main thought that powered me through each issue. Although many people (even our reporters) joke about how Herald papers would get used as picnic mats during strawberry party season, I do believe that not having a proper student newspaper would be worse than having one that is not that frequently read. And by such, if we are going to exist, the Editor’s role would be to strive to make it better — to make it more accessible to students to voice their opinions, more representative of the KAIST student body, and more enjoyable to read. From increasing our social media presence to heavily covering KAIST-relevant topics in Feature and Op-Ed, as well as conducting more diverse surveys and interviews, I believe Herald has continuously advanced in that direction. I would not say the paper is perfect, nor is it close to being one. But I firmly believe that the future Herald will continue on this path. 

And you, dear Reader, is the one who propels this newspaper to do so. In my first letter, I said that you are the end point of our paper, but at the same time, you are the starting point. The Herald will continue to aim to inspire you to lead small changes around you — for that is why our paper exists.

With this eighth letter, I conclude this term that has lasted for two thirds of my college life so far. Whatever awaits me in the future after this, I am ready to enjoy — and ace — it. And I am more than excited to see what the future of Herald, led by the next generation of Editors, will bring to us readers — I hope you are too.

Looking forward for more,

Jisun Lee

Editor-in-Chief