Editor’s Note: Tryouts for opinion and all other Daily Texan departments are currently underway and will continue until Friday, Jan. 30. Apply online at dailytexanonline.com/employment or walk into our basement office at 2500 Whitis Avenue.

If you’re a student at the University of Texas, it’s safe to assume that you’re interested in learning valuable skills, preparing for a career and making a name for yourself. If you fit that description and don’t have a million-dollar NFL contract awaiting you, there’s no better place at UT to accomplish all three of those goals than The Daily Texan.

However competent a writer you are before you start at the Texan, your skills will grow more than you ever expected as a result of the job. At the Texan, you’ll learn through practice and example how to produce intelligent, professional and compelling work on a quick deadline. You’ll also learn to represent something much bigger than yourself, alongside some of the most talented and driven members of the UT community. 

As an opinion columnist in particular,  you’ll have your views read, considered and critiqued by an audience of thousands on one of the nation’s biggest university campuses. You’ll choose your topic so you can find what’s important to you as a UT student and have a space to show the rest of the 40 Acres why your issue-of-choice should be important to all of us, too. As wide-ranging as your column’s impact can be, the words will be yours to show off, now and for years to come. Few jobs past college encourage you to both build your soapbox and then stand on it and yell. As a Texan opinion columnist, you’ll do just that. 

Obviously, this is a hiring pitch, but let it also serve as a word to the wise. The Texan is one of the largest and most award-winning student newspapers in America, and Texan staffers go on to great things in a multitude of industries. Many of them can attribute much of their success to their time here. Don’t let the opportunity go to waste.