And after eight semesters, I realize today it’s my last working for the Texan.

So, for the final time tonight, I trudge up those stony-grey weathered steps toward the night — you know, the cold — and my frame is in need of rest. My footsteps mingle with the traffic noises, and, head lost in its own thoughts, I lose my inclination to go home.

Floating along to the swinging remedy that is Duke’s “Cotton Tail,” I think about all that we’ve done on “Place de Brouckere.”

I recall the endless hours, the thin steel blade that is deadline and the rush of inky fingers. I remember the stories, the scandals, that magical fall and summer.

So without too much to do: a simple thank you and farewell. So long “Slap Happy,” your features were always very inspirational. So long “Moon Indigo,” your composure and smiling face an example for the rest of us, you’ll do well. So long “The Mooche,” if it didn’t get you very far at the Texan, your passion and desire to excel will elsewhere, I’m sure of it. So long “Perdido,” you two quick-witted lightning-tongued generals. So long “Smoke Rings,” you recent graduate, don’t lose your deliberate but sleepy touch. So long you, “Sheiks of Araby,” your deadpan nature and media brilliance will transform the Texan.

And thank you for all you not at the Texan this semester who blessed me with their presence and guidance. You kept me together when I was coming apart. Tomorrow’s a new paper and next semester a new staff. I’d like to stay, but I’m taking the “A” Train out of here.

Pierre Bertrand joined the Texan in the summer of 2008. He was a senior reporter for more than a year covering city and cops and courts, an associate news editor and later an associate multimedia editor.