All good things must come to an end. The eight staff members graduating from The Oakland Post this semester are experiencing the bittersweet sentiment of this classic phrase in the last week of their college career.

In light of this being our final issue of Volume 49, each graduating “Postie” shared a few favorite memories from their time working at The Post. 

Autumn Okuszka, Editor-in-Chief

Though it’s more recent, my favorite memory has to be assisting in the coverage of the men’s basketball team’s historic run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Not only was it exciting to witness the team’s talent be recognized on a large scale, but it was also exciting to see how the Golden Grizzlies’ successes, specifically, their win against Kentucky, affected The Oakland Post sports staff. I was honored to help bring their coverage to the forefront of our publication. 

I will miss getting to connect with my campus in a way the average student isn’t able to. I will miss meeting so many wonderful people and getting to tell their stories, and I will miss working with a talented group of people in the creation of The Oakland Post. It’s an experience I shall treasure for a lifetime. 

Payton Bucki, Content Editor

My favorite memory with The Post was completing an investigation on the Student Activities Funding Board (SAFB) in 2023. It was rumored that SAFB had over $550,000 in unused funding. Through my research, I proved this to be true. Following my investigation, I wrote an article detailing the large number of tuition dollars that remained unused. This piece brought attention to SAFB’s lack of transparency in disclosing where tuition dollars were going; or, more accurately, sitting.

I will miss my coworkers from The Oakland Post a lot. During my time working for the paper, I have met some great people who share my passion for journalism. It has been amazing to work with a wonderful group of individuals, I know each Postie will go on to do incredible things in the future.

Brock Heilig, Sports Editor

My favorite memory from working at The Oakland Post is covering Oakland’s win over Kentucky in Pittsburgh. Recency bias may play a big role here, but that moment was tough to beat.

I’ll miss being with everyone in the office, even though I wasn’t there a whole lot. I’ll miss everybody.

Chloe Kukuk, Campus Editor

I loved our December 2023 meeting/end-of-semester party. There was something really fun about everyone getting together in our cozy office and chatting. I also really loved the craziness that came with the NCAA Tournament reporting, even if it wasn’t in my section. It was so fun to see all the hype and all the stories that went up about OU’s basketball team during that time.

I’m going to miss getting to interact with all the different institutions on campus. As the Campus Editor, I had the pleasure of being more in tune with all the different schools, departments, and student groups than I think the average person would be, and I loved learning about all the wonderful things they were doing.

Evelyn Gandarilla Saenzpardo, Marketing Director

My favorite memory of working at The Oakland Post is production Mondays and watching our talented designers design pages, covers and the center spread and being able to be part of the designing process.

I will miss the staff I was able to work and collaborate with. The Post is filled with talented reporters, editors, photographers and designers whose work I was able to share.

Charles Conant, Photographer

My favorite memory from working at The Oakland Post was taking pictures at basketball games. I will miss the experiences I shared with my coworkers at The Post and the photography opportunities I took advantage of while working at the paper.

Christian Udeozor-Nweke, Graphic Designer

My favorite memories working at The Oakland Post were when both the printer and Wi-Fi for The Post kept going out every time we would come in.

I will miss working with everyone on the team, being in a positive environment and having a cool place to hang out afterward.

Barret Schettler, Graphic Designer

I loved every production day. I especially loved talking, listening to music and designing with my super cool coworkers. It was such an impactful way to connect with them and other students as well.

I will definitely miss the creative and uplifting work culture we created. It was really special to get to work with such talented and driven students and share an accepting and healthy work environment. I will also miss the connection to campus. Working at The Post was a great way to see what was happening on a weekly basis and hear about everyone’s experiences around campus.