Editor’s note: A 30 column is a chance for departing permanent staffers to say farewell and reflect on their time spent at the The Daily Texan. The term comes from the old typesetting mark (-30-) to denote the end of a line.

At the start of my sophomore year, I found myself, like many before me, staring into the abyss that is the dark basement stairway. 

After a solid 15 minutes of trying to prepare myself, I finally made that mad dash down the stairs and was ushered into the fluorescent oasis known as the Daily Texan office. 

I soon found Morgan, the Life&Arts editor, and quickly and incoherently babbled off three of what I’m now sure were some of the worst pitches she’d ever heard. But Morgan gave me a chance, even when she probably shouldn’t have. To Morgan, I owe a huge thank you. She put up with my mistakes, gave me guidance and shaped me into something that resembled a writer. 

I should also say thank you to Chris and Charles, who, along with having the best bromance this office has ever seen, gave me the support and criticism I needed to transform myself from something that resembled a writer, to an actual one. Thank you for your honesty and your belief in me. I miss you guys.

Thank you to Ruben, who agreed to edit with me, even though we both had way too much on our plates already. 

I suppose I should also give a quick shoutout to Peter, even though he thought I was a boy for, like, the entire first semester I worked here. Peter, thank you for your guidance.

Along with all the awesome support I received at the Texan, I also got to have a ton of incredible experiences I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else. The best of those experiences being getting to talk to the eloquent and phenomenal André Aciman, author of “Call Me By Your Name.” And also that time I accidentally physically ran into the mayor, that was pretty fun, too.

Being a part of this paper gave me purpose. Every skill I’ve gained as a journalist has come not from my classes, but from the time and effort I invested in this paper — and the time and effort the people here have invested in me.