Earlier this year we had a conversation on the Observer about journalistic integrity. We were concerned about fact checking, making sure our articles had enough interviews, and differentiating between opinion and fact. The first iteration of this conversation lasted for many hours late into a Monday night when every member of our staff had something else they could and should have been doing. The members of our staff spend a lot of late Monday nights working on the Observer, and I know they always have other things they could be doing.

I think when you really fall in love with something, it changes you. Your center of gravity shifts and your eyes hold light differently and your thoughts have a new fulcrum that you can’t really stop talking about.

This has been my experience with the Observer. I fell for the Observer my first week at Tufts because it seemed smart, and pretty, and so much cooler than I was. Everyone on staff was doing dope research and making beautiful art and had figured out how to wear all the latest trends.

But after two nights of laying out fonts and fighting with commas, my crush turned quickly from infatuation to a deep­—and maybe irrevocable—love.

I love the Observer because it changed me. In writing and editing, it has taught me to ask questions about truth, responsibility, and integrity. About what stories need to be told, and how.

But mostly I love the Observer because it inspires me. The people I work with are talented and dedicated in ways that repeatedly astound me. They are people who willingly participate in lengthy conversations about journalistic integrity or design theory when, at the end of the day, we are a college publication. I love the Observer because we are a college publication trying to be something more.

The theme of this issue is love. I hope you can find something in our pages to help you think about love a little differently. And I hope you have found something in your life that can change you the way the Observer has changed me.