I never thought I’d be a cool kid and get to write one of these. But, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t come clean. So, here it goes: Two years ago, I lied to Christiana and told her I knew how to work InDesign. Wow, that feels better.

I applied for the Texan during spring 2020. I had an hour to design two pages. This is the funny part: Three hours went by, and no one came and got me. I thought maybe I looked professional enough to be on this paper, so I left the basement grinning.

I was confident I got the job, so I waited for the congratulatory email. But instead, I got something even better — rejected. So I did what I do best, cried and called my best friend, Reese.

Wait for it! Two weeks later, I received an email stating a last-minute spot opened up. I replied YES so fast, and one phone call later, I was an issue designer.

On my first shift in the basement, I came with design notes because I wanted to look qualified. So it’s safe to say it worked.

Honestly, being hired on design as a second choice is how I felt initially. Shout out to Barb for rejecting me from comics when I had an identity crisis and wanted to leave design (sorry @design lol).

I want to thank the Academy … just kidding. Thank you to Christina for always believing in me and pushing me beyond limits. Oh, and telling me we had a special sports issue, Double Coverage, this whole time.

To the Double Coverage team, I loved being your design editor and working on my favorite issue.

Kaitlyn, my DC queen, I miss our stressed-out phone calls but would like to thank you for being my rock through it all.

Blaine, you are truly an amazing human being, and thank you for taking a picture of Bijan for my lock screen.

Megan and Juleanna, thank you for always listening to me ramble on, answering all of my dumb questions, and being the best mentors.

To my Thursday crew, Sara, Morgan, Amaya and Sophie, you guys are the best. Thank you for being a part of the “best” day of the week. A day that never had any problems, and everything just went by so smoothly … wink wink. It was always a joy when y’all were there.

Thank you to the rest of my design staff for being awesome and for all of your hard work. It has been an honor being your design editor. I won’t forget you.

Phoebe, thank you for making me feel comfortable applying for this role, and spelling out big words for me.

Fiza, thank you for playing Taylor Swift in the basement; and Nathan, I have cooler Jordans than you.

Peter, thank you for the adequate emails. They were highly competent.

To my mom and dad, thank you for always being my cheerleaders and constantly pushing me to be my very best. I couldn’t have made it here without you.

Reese, thank you for always loving every page I designed and pushing me to move up, even when I wanted to back out. We can officially cross off being a part of our school newspapers together.

Nabeela, thank you for the best ramen on Thursday nights.

And lastly, to The Daily Texan, thank you for these past two years. It might have been stressful but also rewarding. I am so honored to have worked with the most incredible people, and I can’t wait to watch this paper grow for years on. HAGS!