Of all the stressful deadlines I’ve faced at the Texan, writing this column is the toughest. I don’t quite know how to summarize my time here, since my job has been to make other people’s content look cool. 

Coming in to the basement freshman year as an issue designer, I had no idea why I was doing it. I was pre-med and neuroscience, with goals of making breakthroughs in medical research and treatments. So I did what anyone would do — I joined my school newspaper. My then-roommate, knowing that I had no intentions of pursuing design or journalism, asked me why I would waste time there. I couldn’t give her an answer besides “I like it there.” 

At the end of that semester, I made a list of priorities. I can’t remember if the Texan was even on that list. I told myself I’d do it for one semester just to do something outside of science. Somehow, it climbed its way up to one of the top positions on that list. That summarizes why I stayed until becoming design editor — I couldn’t stop liking it.

It wasn’t just the designing itself, I grew to like the people too. Here’s to everyone who gave me a reason to keep coming back. 

To the Thursday Crew, Kirsten, Keshav and Catherine, I usually say we only make deadline with Skrillex, but maybe it’s because you guys are great at what you do. It was mainly Skrillex, though. 

For guidance, thanks to Andrea, who helped me transition into the role and gave me the confidence to be a department head. Thank you Peter and Forrest for pushing me to never settle for “adequate.” To my #designteam, thanks for making my job easy and putting out a great paper day after day after day. Even when stories drop, verticals come in and InDesign crashes, you manage to erase all the evidence. 

After I said I would leave last semester, and the one before that, I’m actually doing it this time. Print journalism is dying and I’m putting my design career to rest. I can’t begin to explain how much I’ve grown from working at the Texan. The Texan largely contributed to shaping me into the person I am now — a better leader, friend and thinker. Down the line, I know I’ll walk by the Texan office, see someone in a Texan sweatshirt or glance at the issues sitting in the stands and think, “I liked it there.”