Showtime for the UT Class of 2013 commencement is drawing nearer. Parents are coming into town, graduation portraits are going up on Facebook and books for the class you hated are meeting your friend, the trash can.

We at The Daily Texan want to be there with you through it all.

Not in a creepy stalker way, mind you. About 8,300 UT students from 17 colleges and schools will graduate this weekend. The Daily Texan is working on Project #UTgrad all this week, an effort aiming to provide real-time, comprehensive coverage of the 2013 UT commencement.

We know this is an important time for the UT community and we want to invite everyone participating in commencement to help us document it. Below are ways you can contribute: 

–    Help us get #UTgrad trending. Use the hash tag #UTgrad and tweet pictures to @thedailytexan of yourself in your graduation gear, parents coming into town or last minute adventures with your friends. Basically, show us what you’re doing until you have to walk down that stage (sleeping counts).

–    Send any last words, videos, photos and graduation wishes to [email protected] or tweet it @thedailytexan. Mom, do you want to tell your son/daughter how proud you are of them or embarrass them by telling a childhood story? Tell us. UT grad, do you want to tell your fellow grads how awesome they are and congratulate them? Tell us. We will choose the best of these and put them on our website and Facebook for all to see.

–    Let us know what you’re doing and where you are on Friday. We are working on a story called “13 hours with the class of 2013” and we want to know what our grads are doing. Tweet at us if you’re out for lunch, taking pictures on campus or having a party. We will send a reporter and photographer to go meet you and take photos, which will end up in a story and on our website later on.

• –    Anything else you can think of.

Make your last moments as a student count, Class of 2013. Don’t freak out if you see us and we ask to take a photo of you and mom. Just Hook ‘em.