Today’s my last day as director of The New Tropic. Thank you.
Today’s my last day as director of The New Tropic. Below is a copy of sign-off in today’s newsletter.
I’m a Miami native who left for college in 2006, certain I would never come back.
And if it wasn’t for The New Tropic, I probably never would have. But I started reading this same newsletter in summer 2015 at my desk in Nairobi (fun fact: I was a foreign correspondent before this) and realized I was missing out on something really special — both in Miami and in a fun, kind of crazy experiment in doing journalism with and for the community.
So I packed up my things and came home. And I’m pretty sure it was the best decision I’ve ever made (well, after deciding in college to stop trying to straighten my hair).
It’s been a crazy, rewarding ride.
I’ve loved hanging out with you at events, decoding our confusing elections, working together to get through Hurricane Irma, telling stories like this one about an overlooked moment in Miami history, and learning the perfect gif to capture the feeling of driving through a flash flood after a thunderstorm.
In this massive, always changing city, I hope we’ve been able to bridge the gap between “new” and “old” Miami, the curious transplants and the proud natives, the Lummus Park body builders and the political activists.
A reader once thanked us for bringing her closer to her city. It stuck with me, because it so perfectly describes how I feel about this job. I hope we’ve been able to do that for all of you.
I hope you’ve had a few “Oh my gosh, me too!” moments reading something here. I hope you’ve felt hopeful about where Miami is headed, and that you’ve stopped a couple times to think of our many challenges. I hope we’ve made you laugh, and I hope we’ve made you feel “We’ve got this.” 💪
I’m so grateful I got to be a part of this journey for almost three years, and I’m so excited to see where The New Tropic and WhereBy.Us go next. We will remain a place for Miami’s curious locals to figure out how to #livelikeyoulivehere and you’ll still be able to reach us every day at hello@thenewtropic.com. If this goodbye note makes you want to give this job a whirl yourself, you can find more details here.
Plus, you’ll be able to reach me for a little longer at ariel@thenewtropic.com. If you want to keep in touch, shoot me a note there — especially if you have tips on where a girl can get a decent cafecito in New York City, where I’ll be shivering for the next year and a half, helping newsrooms around the world work alongside their communities the way that I’ve had the immense privilege to do with all of you.
Besos,
Ariel
