I am more than aware of how ironic it is that I have worked at one of the best student newspapers for almost three years, yet I remain a subpar writer. 

I’ll try to keep it short since this will probably be rough.

I really did not know what I was getting myself into the fall of freshman year. I was an ex-“yerd” just looking to replace the die-hard love of slaving over something people barely read. So of course I stumbled across the Texan. And I’m really glad I did.  

First, I’d like to thank the members of the design department before me who inspired me to get where I am today. Andrea, thank you for taking a chance on me when I was a quiet little freshman and for promoting me to keep working until I got this far. Christiana and Reneé, thank you for making such positive changes to the department while I was a senior designer. It made the transition so much easier. 

To those currently in the design department who had to deal with my antics … I’m sorry. There were times in the summer that I had next to no idea what I was doing, but Christina, Megan and Maria managed to keep a straight face while I struggled to make meetings fun. Maria, I especially could not have stayed sane without you by my side. Thanks for always being a helping hand. I’m looking forward to continuing our chaos in TXC. Additionally, the designers who survived an entire semester of remote production, many gold stars to y’all. 

The times when we worked in a physical office almost seem like a lifetime ago, but I probably had some of my favorite college experiences (so far) in that shithole. I could not have stayed this long if the people who work here weren’t so damn awesome. Without the many heated debates, music talks and award show viewings to come back to, y’all would not have seen me after that all-nighter for the OU paper last fall. Kirsten, Donnie, Alex, y’all helped make that dingy basement a place I looked forward to going to. Most of all though, thank you, Jimena. You are the closest friend I’ve made in my time here, and without a doubt, I would have had a minimum of three mental breakdowns if we hadn’t had those quarantined production nights this semester. I’m currently making virtual grilled cheeses for all four of you.  

An additional thanks to those outside of the office. To my roommates, who have heard endless rants or put up with me coming home after working until 2 a.m., and my friends who pick up a copy just to make me feel better. And of course, to Kennedy, who has patiently watched me emulate that picture of Coraline’s dad every Monday night this semester or sat and waited for me to do “this one last thing” when I check Slack and see I missed an important message. 

I know it probably sounds like I hated this job, but I’m not THAT much of a masochist. It’s been a rough last semester (but who hasn’t had a rough semester?), and still I wouldn’t take back any of my time spent here.