I laid in bed Tuesday at 3 a.m., tossing and turning and thinking.

I had to write this missive and turn it in 17 hours. But I didn’t know who to thank, to praise, to compliment. I didn’t know what to write.

Like the speech of an Oscar-winner, I have so many people to thank, but there’s a limit — time limits them. Inches limit me.  

For some reason, I became curious about diamonds. So I thumbed through my phone until I got to a Wikipedia page titled “Diamond.” I wanted to know how they’re made and where they come from.

What I learned: They are made underground.

When I started at The Daily Texan, I thought I would be here for my entire collegiate career. I thought this was the pinnacle of journalism for a student at UT — working for one of the best student newspapers in the U.S.

But I knew this would be my last semester. What I needed was more time here because, like anyone leaving a place, I’m left asking, “Where did the time go?”

But I know where the time went and where most of it was spent — in the office. It’s where I ate; it’s where I cried; it’s where I slept. There probably hasn’t been a day of school when I wasn’t in the office. It’s because that’s where most of my friends are — where the people are elegant, precious and beautiful like diamonds.

They are the people who will stay up with you until 3 a.m. in the office on a summer day to support you. The ones that place a sticky note on your computer wishing you good luck on your test and that “Roger is rooting for you.” The great friends that place a packet of peanut M&M’s on your desk with another sticky note that says to cheer up. (That sticky note is still in my wallet.)

I’m glad I joined the Texan, and I think most people who work here are glad they joined, too. The sports writers who critiqued me, the Life&Arts and photo editors who I played Ping-Pong with, the other staffers I played staffsketball with and also became friends with. The two page designers who became like my sisters — one younger, the other older — who I looked forward to seeing every single day.

You should join the Texan. You’ll have a blast. If you don’t know where it is, just go to the HSM building and take the elevator or the stairs underground. You’ll enter a place where careers begin. Where friendships are born.

Where diamonds are found.

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