Aw shucks.

I’m graduating? Really? Damn it. Anyway, I guess I have no choice but to leave this wonderful publication and all of the amazing opportunities it has graciously gifted me. Going into college, I certainly did not expect to get involved with the university newspaper whatsoever, but man am I so happy I did.

Brooke Sjoberg, Jordyn Zitman and Tiana Woodard were the best Larts parents I could ever ask for. Tunneling down into the dingy basement after a long day of freshman general education classes (Intro to Statistics? WTF?) was always the highlight of my day. Brooke’s laugh is my second favorite laugh in the entire world (behind The Joker’s of course.)

Trinady Joslin (aka Harley Quinn super-fan #2) and Ariana Arredondo helped make my sophomore year at the Texan absolutely splendid. I am so grateful for all of your incredible advice, support and friendship.

Lauren Castro, Avery Wohleb, Grace Barnes, Fiza Kuzhiyil and Aisling Ayers are some of the best friends I have made in my four years here at UT. Without the Texan, I never would’ve met these super neat people and would certainly know a whole lot less about Harry Styles.

Of course, the current Life and Arts staff: Zoe Tzanis, Sofia Treviño and Reya Mosby deserve a gigantic thank you. You’ve made my last semester at the Texan quite splendid if I do say so myself. Zoe, your powerpoints were the best I’ve seen in all four years for sure. I do wish I won snail of the week at least once though.

A special thanks is owed to James Preston Poole. If your tweet about UT never stumbled its way onto my Twitter timeline, I doubt I ever would’ve batted an eye toward the Texan. Seeing your surprisingly low “Hereditary” review in print while visiting campus was pretty much the treasure map that led me to apply for a position in Life and Arts. (Completely disagree with your wack rating though.) Savannah Salazar, your passion for film and stellar festival coverage was always an inspiration to me. I love watching both of your careers flourish.

While pursuing a career in filmmaking, the Texan has consistently been an incredible aid in my film industry journey. Film criticism gets a lot of flack from Twitter trolls, but in all honesty; good critics love movies probably more than some fans think. It brings me no joy to criticize a project, as I know firsthand the immense dedication it requires to pull this art-form off. Film journalism is a way to celebrate film. A way for viewers to convey their feelings in writing about how someone’s work truly made them feel. As I hope to pursue a career in film directing, I will never forget the skills I uncovered while analyzing countless films for The Daily Texan.

Before I depart, here’s a few quick thank you’s: Andrea Tinning for strangely deciding to hire me, Michael C. Hall for complimenting my “Friday the 13th” shirt, Anne Hathaway for giving me a wonderful fist bump, Jared Leto for looking into my soul, Jesse Eisenberg for saying I might be successful, Alana Haim for complimenting my shoes, Nicolas Cage for chatting with me about Dracula, Cameron Monaghan for letting me gush about his “Gotham” performance, Daniel Radcliffe for wishing me luck in my film career, and the wonderful PR teams at Fons, Warner Media, Moroch, and Netflix for the amazing opportunities.

While journalism may not be my overall career goal, I never EVER plan to stop reviewing, interviewing, and discussing anything and everything related to the wonderful world of entertainment.

I owe it all to DT, thank you so much.

5 tears out of 5