I was a transfer student that worked on a small newspaper at my last university and never imagined I would make it into The Daily Texan. I always thought I was a small fish in a big pond. 

Now, after a year and a half in the photo department, I’ve learned so much about what it means to be a photojournalist and how to teach new photographers the meaning of our job and how to do it well. I didn’t realize how much I loved teaching photography until becoming photo editor. It’s something that’s made me consider becoming a teacher to educate the next generation on photojournalism. 

The ride was not an easy feat. Some photo requests drove me insane, I lost my patience with limited access due to coronavirus and went crazy over the ridiculously slow server access from my personal laptop, but I don’t regret a single moment of it. I found a place where I belonged and that made sense to me — my brain loved shifting through the chaos that is a college newspaper. 

But doing full-time school, working a part-time job and being a full-time editor during a pandemic, I decided it was time to go in a new direction. 

I’ve come to realize that college photojournalists are my favorite people. We are all a bunch of weirdos with cameras trying to make a difference. I am forever grateful for my permanent staff who put up with my late work hours and still made our department look phenomenal. Jamie, Jack, Kirsten and Nick … y’all are the most talented photographers I know and will go so far in this life with your skills, hard work and kindness. Each of you masters a skill, and it was a privilege to learn them from you this semester. 

To Amna, who put me under her wing my sophomore year as associate photo editor, thank you for teaching me what it means to be a good leader. To not get run over, but also show kindness and understanding. You will always be my inspiration and good friend. 

Eddie, there’s not enough thank-you’s in the world to express how grateful I am that you accepted me onto the team when I first transferred to UT. You taught me everything about the photo department and how to be a photojournalist, and were careful to critique my work and push me to be more than I ever thought I could. 

To my photographers — you were my guinea pigs, but I think y’all turned out all right. I hope I gave you valuable skills you can take into your career and life itself, because you definitely taught me some. It was a pleasure watching y’all grow into amazing photographers, and I’d like to think I had some part in that, but I know it was always inside of each of you. 

To everyone at The Daily Texan, you have been a great addition to my family. This is not goodbye, but a pleasant reminder to always stay in touch. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet in another newsroom someday, and I’ll take pictures for your stories again. 

The only thing I have left to say is that, UT football, I’m comin’ for ya. One way or another, I will finally shoot pictures on that field.