So here it is, the moment of truth for so many within the Mercyhurst community. The seniors are off having their fun before finals kick in, and then they’ll be headed off into the real world or something like that. Pshaw, say the freshmen, as they’re not sure which is worse – more school or a summer at home with their parents.

And me, you ask? Well – I’m in a strange situation. I am a junior, at the cusp of having to actually own up to the fact that I’m going to leave Mercyhurst sooner rather than later, yet I won’t even be here in the fall anyway.

Fear not, music lovers and adventure seekers, for I will still send in weekly diatribes (and the occasional anecdote) from our beloved nation’s capital – Washington, D.C. I hope that in an election year I will be able to get you interested and informed on the issues that affect all of us, and not just a bunch of well-dressed politicians.

On a more selfish note, I’d like to take a bit of this year-ending article to thank those that pick up the Merciad and peruse the articles in it. Yes, the publication is thinner than it was last year and yes – it does look like the worst in-line-at-the-checkout-do-people-actually-read-this-they-ought-to-lose-their-voting-rights style rag you’ve ever seen. Despite this, everyone at Mercyhurst seems to remember fondly a few articles each year.

In another flagrant example of self-serving writing gone awry, feel free to join me and the rest of the Mercyhurst Students for a Better America for an Americana cookout tomorrow afternoon, and help us start off the Springfest weekend right – with a cold(Reslife-friendly) drink, burgers and some outdoor games.

So, while I anxiously await the next and final check from the Merciad this year, I would like to again thank you for reading, and hopefully getting a laugh or two from what I have to say. Few of you may agree with what I have to say sometimes, and Doc Gamble is probably getting more and more annoyed with me each week, but I view these as the simple joys of college life – and I can’t help but hope for Double-Secret Probation one of these days.

As I look to a fall without Mercyhurst, I hope that you will still get to read my stories while imagining the dulcet tones of my voice wafting from the page much like my voice resonates from atop my high horse that I ride in on daily and then place on pedestals I keep around campus.

My final word for this year? I promise to leave every light and electrical device left in my apartment at the end of the year on full blast, just to watch the Green Team die a little inside – and that is just the style of politically incorrect tomfoolery in writing that I’ve enjoyed sharing with you all year. God bless you, God Bless Mercyhurst College and God Bless America – every last bit of it.