“the world gives you so much pain,
and here you are making gold out of it.
there is nothing purer than that.” – rupi kaur
Journalists have some of the most difficult jobs on this Earth. There, I said it. I say this because I have seen it firsthand. I have felt it. I have lived it. I have watched my peers bear the burden of harboring a story inside themselves knowing they cannot yet tell it; it’s not the right time or the place or maybe they just fear it isn’t ready yet. Telling your own story is scary enough as it is. Telling somebody else’s is even scarier.
This year as Editor in Chief, I have seen great work. No. I have seen vibrant, colorful, heart-wrenching, go-getter, inspiring, breathtaking work. I have watched people fight for stories they believed in, and argue with me over the smallest punctuation change. I have seen the light in someone’s eyes when the story came to them – that moment they found the missing piece to pull it all together. I have had people bust into my office pulling out their hair, digging through piles of notes and interviews, and then breathe a sigh of relief when it all came together on the page. I have known them to shed genuine tears in an interview, moved by the stories of others.
This final issue of Ethos is all of this and more. You can feel this energy as you hold it in your hands. From the first page, this issue is a breath of fresh air, a look to the future, and a bright hopeful feeling in your chest. It’s the warmth of sun on your skin and the exhilaration of crisp wind through your hair. It’s standing up for others, and knowing when to let them go. This final magazine is looking at where we’ve been and pointing to what’s next.
And this is journalism. We see the stories and we set them free. We hold the pain of others in our hands, and we turn it into gold. Reflecting on the end of the year, I feel we as a staff have fought through telling tough stories, and each time we created something stunning. And I cannot express how honored I am to have been in this position.
Signing off,
 
Jordyn Brown