At the start of every new year, the Romans carried out a ritual of sorts to honor Janus, the god of beginnings and transition. It was tradition to exchange good wishes and words of optimism. Figs and honey were given as gifts; cakes made of hulled wheat doubled as sacred offerings to the heavens. No animal sacrifices took place — only expressions of mirth and fondness.

Janus is usually portrayed as having two faces, one looking to the past; the other, to the future. Here at WEEKEND, it is time for us — Caroline, Jack, Jordi and Akbar — to turn our four visages from the trail we have blazed to the bristly path ahead. The end of our reign will bring forth the next generation of propulsive WEEKEND warriors, who will carry the inextinguishable torch of Arts & Living into the future. Like the Romans before us, we can only sing the praises of our successors during this time of flux.

WEEKEND has gone down a winding road this past year. We’ve rapidly shifted our focus to cover what matters to you: from fetishized almond pudenda to #SWUGNATION; from mental health to sexual climate; from tires floating across the Rio Grande to cow heads hanging in meat freezers; from GPA-saving study stimulants to Yale-saving icons like Linda Lorimer; from the academic study of parties to Yalies partying in Hollywood.

We asked your burning questions to heartthrobs like Aaron Carter and Herman Cain. We gave you a glimpse into the hippest wardrobes of Yale. We answered your single friends’ calls for companionship by setting them up on blind dates, and we provided an outlet for your unrestrainable love for Queen B. When doomsday rolled around, we prepped you for the darkest of deaths, and when spring break finally arrived, we brought you tweets full of sun and tequila.

Since its conception, WEEKEND has carried a message at its core, a sentiment that has fueled the long hours in our perch at 202 York: everyday is WEEKEND. And indeed, we have spent every waking moment thinking of the issues, thinking of the trends, thinking of you: the artsy and the living. Now it is time for the keepers of the lounge — that four-headed beast, that irrevocable mind meld — to walk our separate ways. We will dust off our fish lamp, reset our desktops and pass it all down to the next round of Weekenders. We can’t wait to read what they have in store for all of us.