Duck: Ilana Zahavy
On our final print morning, Kendall, Rose, Griffin and I drove to Red Creek, New York, about an hour from 230 Euclid, to watch our last issue print. We were all severely sleep deprived but determined to fulfill a longtime goal of making the trip to Wayuga Printing and Publishing.
We stood in the warehouse, Recess coffees in hand, the air thick with the smell of fresh ink, and I remembered why I loved my job. It’s difficult to put into words, but I will try. At The Daily Orange, there’s always something to be done. I am obsessed with the grind and addicted to the chaos. I attribute my personal growth, design knowledge and some of my closest friendships to The D.O. I love this place with my whole heart, and I will miss it tremendously (I’ll probably stick around a little though). Many tears were shed, coffees drank and The Great Divide listened to during the writing of this duck.
On Aug. 13, 2024, a week or so before my freshman year began, I messaged Sophia Burke on Instagram asking about a design position at The Daily Orange. I met Lucia and Cole a couple days later, and the rest is history.
I wish I had infinite words to express my gratitude toward everyone. Unfortunately I’m being held to a (loose) word count.
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Fall ‘25 headeds
Delia
Delia. James Charles. I was always amazed at how you led with grace, confidence and patience. You had a crazy semester as news editor, and it is incredible what you pulled off. I will always be grateful for the delirious 3 a.m. laughs on the management couch. You’re iconic. I am so excited to see you as EIC, The D.O. is in great hands.
Mia
Your kindness, approachability and creativity made working with Culture so fun. Thanks for being an amazing co-worker and friend. I remember being so excited to do culture pages as a design editor because it meant I got to hang out with you.
Savannah
Headed twin! I’m so glad we became friends. You are so smart and well-spoken. Going into my first semester as a sophomore PD was daunting. Having another person who understood being a first semester sophomore headed (while enduring earth science) was validating. I’m glad we could be there for each other.
Nuss
My fellow south campus warrior — thank you for being so reliable and hardworking. I had a blast working on guides with you, and I can’t wait to see you as ME.
Leo
We always seemed to be on the same wavelength about visuals, it was fun to work with someone who had an incredible creative eye.
Spring ‘26 headeds
Eliana
I love the Camp Ramah to D.O. pipeline we’ve created. It’s wild how we went from bunkmates crying of homesickness in 2017 to D.O. co-workers in 2026. Your dedication, patience and kindness has always amazed me, and I’m so grateful for our friendship. Your laugh is contagious. When I said you’d be my D.O. emergency contact I meant it.
Ave
Your official title may have been “photo editor,” but this semester you served as The D.O.’s resident archivist, caption-writing director and comedic genius. YOU GET ME. Working alongside you has been wonderful. I’m proud of the vis room vibes we’ve maintained and the work we’ve collaborated on. I love our flow state of bouncing ideas off each other. The vis room is our kitchen, and we cook. Thank you for keeping the vibes high when I’m crashing out. You are brilliant, Ave, and I hope we get to work together again.
Brenne
I don’t know that I’ve met someone with quite as much passion as you. How do you do it?! I’m blown away by the content you’ve produced this semester. You are one of the funniest people in house, and I am privileged to have been able to work with you.
Alumkal
Nicholas, thank you for always being a positive force in the house. I always enjoyed your unexpected anecdotes and well-rounded vocabulary. I may have had to remind you to fill out display until our final print night but luckily it gave me an excuse to go into sports and yap with you and your squad.
Grace
You crushed it as op editor and made my job easier — thank you!!
Sammy, Kate, Julia
MAJOR kudos to you all. I wish I got to work with you all more; you guys bring the best vibes.
Senior sports writers
Aiden, Cooper, Justin, Zak: I’ve been lucky to have worked with you all in different capacities — assistants, ME, DME, SE and senior staff writers. You are some of the most dedicated people I know. Thanks for the early pitches and all the laughs, I’m really happy you worked with me to use collages to enhance vis at The D.O. I can’t wait to see where the future takes you all.
Xo taco
Harris
I’m glad your acting career didn’t take off — because if it did, you probably wouldn’t be at The D.O. I’m so happy we became friends this year. You bring immaculate vibes to the house, and I love all your random lore. I hope our schedules line up next year for a Dunkin’ run and food.com chat between classes again. You’re hilarious, thanks for always laughing with me.
Mauricio
I remember the first time you walked into the dig meeting freshman spring. Who’s this new kid with the pajama pants? I have to say, I haven’t seen the PJs in a while, you should bring them back. Mo, your dedication is insane. Rose said this in goodbyes, but I want to reiterate: you are a natural storyteller — no matter what you’re saying, I’m intrigued and engaged.
Jordan
It’s so awesome to be in house with someone who was as obsessed with The D.O. as I was before we even got to campus. Some of my favorite memories from print nights are the 10 minutes where you’d come into vis to chat or do the scrib. Your growth from pirate scrib to nacho scrib is tremendous, I’m proud of you. Seriously though, I’m so excited to see you shine as SE. It makes me emotional to think of our dig meeting days as terrified freshmen. I cannot wait to see the guides you and Addie put out — genuinely DREAM duo. Expect visits in the sports room next semester.
Charlotte
You bring a vibrant energy to the house, and you’re my comfort person at 230 Euclid. Though we worked in house together for three semesters, I still feel like I learn something new about you every day. You have impeccable music taste, and I wish we could scream to Florence + The Machine’s “Buckle” forever in the vis room. Thanks for all the hugs and laughs. And thank goodness we still have two years left together.
Lily Z
I remember the first time you came into vis as design editor. You introduced yourself, eager to get to know everyone. Almost two years later, as incoming culture editor, you’ve maintained that same excitement and inviting energy. Your creative eye shines through in your stories and spread pitches. Thanks for being one of my first friends, love you Zuck.
Vis
Photo assistants
You guys rock — what a lovely group of photags. Thank you for all your silliness.
Abby
As soon as spring semester came around, and I was looking to hire a new designer, I instantly knew who I wanted to recruit: Abby Aggarwala. You did not disappoint. You’re a talented and reliable designer; you’re going to kill it as DDD.
Lily W
It was 3 a.m., maybe 4, and Lily came down to dig. My entire file got messed up, you told me. You remained composed and redesigned about half of sports’ pages within 20 minutes. Your resilience that night amazed me, Lily. It was lovely to have you on all year, you’re a vital asset to our design team.
Caroline
I will always remember you as the first designer I hired. I’m going to be honest. I didn’t know you were going abroad until you mentioned it in passing one day — I was really sad to see you go in the spring. I’m so grateful that I had you on my team when I did and glad we get to have more classes together next semester!
Addie
Addie, you came into house excited and ready to take on any challenge. You brought whimsy and laughter to The D.O. and to my life. Honestly, I knew pretty quickly you’d be the next PD. I love our late night laughs and ability to silently communicate via brainwaves. How are we so similar?? You’re my twin flame, sister and daughter all in one. Finally, it’s time to take on what you’ve been training for all year: to control vis aux. Please don’t play Twenty One Pilots. I have no doubt in my mind that you are ready for PD. If you ever need absolutely anything, though, I am always here for you. Especially if it’s to yell at sports to fill out display.
DO fam
Sophia
My OG. I was so lucky to have you by my side freshman year. I’m proud of how we led the design sections this year. We truly divided and conquered, executing dig and print beautifully, though it was really, really hard. I’m amazed at how you built the dig design section this year while balancing your UU commitments and majors. We did it!! I love you so much, Sophia, and I’m so glad you stuck around. You are insane. It’s time for us to retire to Southampton immediately.
Cole
COLE ROSS. It’s crazy to think that I was scared of you when I first walked into vis. About a week later though, I began looking forward to coming into house so I could hang out with you. You were the older sibling I never had. Thank you for inspiring me to transfer into graphic design. I can’t wait for you to come home! You make me laugh more than anyone ever. We’re gonna have a blast in retirement together.
Lucía
It really does feel like just yesterday that I was chatting with you at the activities fair. Your hair was in adorable braids and you were wearing sick track pants. Wow, she’s so cool, I thought. As you taught me the ropes of print design, I always admired your care and patience. For my entire year of PD I’d have the thought in the back of my head: What would Lucia do? I’m so excited for our long overdue coffee date.
MGMT <3 2025-26
James
Thanks for always asking me about print. Your care and dedication shined through during your time in op and especially as DME. Wilting rose emoji. I will always be blown away by your ability to come up with variations of chopped for literally any occasion. I think it’s symbolic, somehow, the way I picked up on your rot vocab. You’re one of the most caring humans I know. Thanks for teaching me what patience and compassion looks like.
Griffin
I didn’t think someone with the same brain as me existed. Then I met Griffin Uribe Brown. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have been placed in a timeline where you reigned in dig. I love how we both love the grind. Your dedication and passion is unbelievable; you transformed The D.O. Having a shared vision for the paper — for both print and dig — made ideating so much fun. Thanks for scrolling with me at 4 a.m. It’s lovely to have someone in the house with the same rotted humor. You should be so proud of how you took the reins this year. I think the fact that we both chose cooperation in fidget Stag Hunt is quite showing of our friendship. WOW that was rotted. Portland is going to be awesome! Try to get some rest?
Rose
Over the summer, Rose brought up a silly prospect to her Instagram story: Which SU freshman dorm would Nick and Schmidt have lived in? After laughing at the question and theorizing, I half-jokingly said “spread it.” The New Girl spread became our obsession for the next couple weeks. We hadn’t worked super closely before, but our passion for this project set the precedent for the rest of the year. I didn’t realize how close we’d get, though. Rose, you quickly became one of my best friends, and I cherish all of our 30-minute conversations post print nights on Ackerman. You had an integral role in cultivating a welcoming, warm space at 230 Euclid, and I admire how you led with compassion and thoughtfulness. Your creative eye always impressed me, thanks for pitching cool shit. I’m not sure if I’ll ever find anyone else as caffeine reliant as us. I can’t believe we’re about to be on different coasts — it’s difficult to fathom the concept of not seeing you everyday.
Kendall
When I think of Kendall, I think of sunshine — not only because Kendall is a ray of light, but also because our first night working together we were up until the sun rose (and it wouldn’t be the last time we DOed till dawn). The vis computer was blasting one of my doom and despair playlists, and we had just finalized print. We both looked at each other, exhausted and delirious. What do we do now? Gathering the two brain cells we had left, we eventually figured out how to send in print and upload it to Issuu. Now, print is second nature. Your ability to lead amazes me. You are kind and smart and remain composed even in moments of chaos. Thanks for letting me crash on the mgmt couch during prodo. It was a pleasure to work with you; thank you for trusting me. You instilled confidence in me and made me feel loved. I’m so excited to see what you accomplish in the future. You’re so brave, I love you my banana almond milk latte obsessed EIC.
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Eliza + my family
Thank you for your unwavering support and love. I promise now I will be more free to pick up calls.
