As a journalist, one of the first things you learn is to expect the unexpected.

I suppose I should have taken that lesson to heart yesterday when I expected to bike to the Herald office, the sun on my back and the wind in my face. Instead I grabbed my umbrella and trudged to campus as the puddles of water slowly crawled up the legs of my jeans.

I should have expected the unexpected, and that’s what you should expect from the Herald this semester.

We’ve got a talented and motivated staff; they’re a perfect mix of veteran experience and rookie eagerness. We’re not afraid to try to new things. We’re not afraid push boundaries. We’re not afraid to buck tradition.

Our loyalty is to you, the readers, and we’re going to do our best to entertain and inform you. You have it in words now, so you can hold me to it.

For our news section, we’re going to continue our commitment to daily events and improve our coverage of in-depth issues. We’re going to tackle national topics like the economy and the presidential election and bring them right to your doorstep.

For diversions, we’re creating a sexy new identity, and as a former design editor, I can’t get enough of sexy journalism. In addition to looking outside the box, we’ll be looking under, over, beside, next to, near, far, across from . continue list of prepositions as needed.

For sports, we’re going to look beyond the numbers. We want you to know your favorite players like your best friend: everything you always wanted to know and some things you didn’t.

For opinion, we’re going to present strong, well-developed ideas. We want this page to be yours. Tell us what you think. Write us letters. Having a good opinion page depends on you.

For photos and multimedia, we’re going to continue to get great images and build the stories behind them. We’re going to improve both our visual and our editorial content.

For design, we’re going to experiment with more alternative storytelling. We want to bring you the news in an easy to devour form. We like white space, and we’re not afraid to use it.

Be sure to pick up the Herald every Tuesday and Thursday. Learn to expect what I’ve told you and more. And, if you ever see someone on campus riding a bike with an umbrella, it’s not the reincarnation of Mary Poppins, it’s me just trying to get to class.

The opinions expressed in this commentary do not reflect those of the Herald or the university.