Memes bring us together.

They’re like modern-day editorial cartoons; they poke fun at people or issues or events and are a communication shorthand. Plus, they’re funny.

Despite their funniness, not all the memes created in our newsroom actually get published. To celebrate graduating college and commemorate the end of my tenure as “meme editor,” here is the finest selection of my unpublished memes, dragged from the deepest depths of our group chats.

Maybe the real treasure was the memes we made along the way.

Gone, but never forgotten

The first thing you need to know about The Signpost editors is that we are obsessed with Hank the Moose.

I remember that night clearly — Sept. 23, 2021. Several of us were on campus for our broadcast journalism class. I returned home and saw that I had a bunch of Slack notifications — apparently, there had been a moose in the pond while we were in class, and we had missed it!

I couldn’t believe how majestic he was, photographed against the sunset in the background. A true sight to behold. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed in the chat, admiring his ethereal beauty.

In a cruel twist of fate, Hank was struck by a car and killed. His light was extinguished forever. We were beside ourselves.

The rest of campus mourned for a few days, but soon moved on. The Signpost didn’t forget. We still talk about him all the time, reminiscing about those few short minutes he was with us.

I’ve made memes about him before, of course. The inaugural Meme of the Week back in September was the one I made of Gru from Despicable Me with his poster boards, surprised to hear about Hank’s demise. Jennifer Greenlee, our editor-in-chief, loved it so much that she demanded we publish it and promoted me to Meme Editor.

When I heard about the infamous Oscars slap moment a few weeks ago, I knew instantly what to do. Unfortunately, Jennifer thought it was too niche to publish in the Waldo’s World issue, so we went with something different.

But fear not, reader — this is my column, so I can publish what I want! Behold, Hank.

Software Shenanigans

The software we use to submit and edit our stories is called Camayak. It has some issues.

Camayak is like the old car from the ‘80s your uncle passed down to you in high school — the A/C is broken, the radio is stuck on a station that only plays songs in Spanish, the bottom is rusted out, the check engine light has been on since 1997 and there’s a concerning stain on the ceiling. Still, it gets you to and from school without too much of a problem.

Camayak is the same way. It gets you where you need to go, but at what cost?

We’re constantly dealing with weird little glitches and quirks in the system. Sometimes it won’t let us add photos, or it won’t un-highlight things we highlight. It’s near impossible to find specific stories.

Our favorite glitch is when you claim a story to edit, locking it for everyone else, but it still won’t let you edit anything. It makes you claim it again — taking it from yourself — before you can get to work.

The best part is that a little notification pops up in the corner, saying, “You grabbed [story title] from you.” Wow, really? I did? Thanks, Camayak! I had no idea!

It’s like Steve Harvey’s 2015 Miss Universe blunder, if Steve was Camayak and the crown was the story and you were somehow both Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines.

Nerdiness in the Newsroom

No offense to my fellow copy editors, but if you’re as nerdy about grammar and AP style as we are, chances are, you don’t know much about sports.

I was editing a basketball story one time when I saw the word “spurrie” in a direct quote from a coach. I was absolutely baffled.

I asked the other copy editors if they had any idea — they didn’t. I looked it up in the AP style book — no results. I Googled it to make sure it wasn’t an obscure sports term I had never heard — nothing.

I finally called over our assistant sports editor, Simon, and asked him if he had any idea what it meant. He squinted at it for a moment, then said, “Oh! I think he means ‘squirrely,’” which made a lot more sense.

I guess this poor reporter hadn’t understood what the coach was saying and invented a new word. We sure got a kick out of it!

To commemorate the occasion, I made a meme. I’m nothing if not predictable.