The Daily Illini staff are the most diligent, hard-working journalists I know, and I am incredibly humbled by the opportunity to work with these individuals every day. 

We handle being full-time students while also working full-time jobs, sitting in the newsroom until we drop the newspaper each night. Then we go home, get homework done, wake up and do it all again. 

We serve as co-workers to each other, but we are also peers. At night, we hold serious meetings and then sit next to our reporters and bosses in class the next morning. 

But the most inspiring part is that we do it because we want to. Because we love the paper and putting out a product that you, the readers, pick up every day. 

The DI is a second family on campus to me, and I always knew that working for the newspaper would be the most important thing I do while attending the University. 

We are a younger staff this year, but what we lack in age, we make up for in passion. 

And this year, we hope to take that passion and expand our current coverage by creating a stronger web presence. 

Your day should start by picking up a copy of The Daily Illini, but it shouldn’t end there. We want to build your trust. We want you to turn to us when rumors of a crime appear or to see post-coverage for events or sports post-game coverage. 

You shouldn’t have to wait until the next morning to digest news about what happened today, and we are working to change the way The Daily Illini’s website runs by providing fresh content.

Stories will be up online as soon as they are ready, making our paper product an outlet for more long-term, investigative pieces. This isn’t an easy task, and it won’t come instantly, but we want you to turn to us for your daily news. 

We also want to change our front page, allowing it to cover the most important content from all sections, including sports, opinions and features. 

So, let’s talk. We’re here to serve you. Shoot me an email, give the newsroom a call. 

We’re new and we’re going to make mistakes, but we will always learn from them. 

Looking around the newsroom on my first night, I’m incredibly excited and I thank the staff for joining me for the next year. 

Megan is a sophomore in Media. 

[email protected] 

@MeganAsh_Jones