The Texan steals around ten hours of my life every week and has been doing so since I was a freshman. One switch from broadsheet to tabloid later, I find myself romanticizing my final walks home from the basement to West Campus. I only feel this way because of the people.

To the crew that trudges down Guad past midnight while blasting Taylor Swift — Fiza, Megan, Mantra, Sruti, Sara, Julius and Shez — writing the bulk of this column after a post-production wine night felt like the right thing to do. I wouldn’t be nearly as sad to leave the Texan without the laughter we share every Thursday.

To my previous editors — Christiana, Sierra, Christina, Megan and Jenny — thanks for trusting me and teaching me what I know. I wish I could’ve done half as good of a job as y’all.

To design — Marissa, Sara, Sam, Karina, Ciara, Catherine, Rani, Aric, Asha, Kirti, Emma, Carla and Jenny — I wouldn’t give my Adobe password to anyone else. Thanks for lending your talents to the Texan and if you ever need anything from me moving forward, I’m just a text away. 

Peter, I’ll miss hearing you say ‘the ceiling’ every time I ask you what’s up. Thank you for all that you do.

Nathan, Angela, Hillary and all of AAJA, thanks for making me feel like a journalist. The talent and compassion in our community constantly inspires me.

Caresse and Avery, as much as I enjoyed the singular visit y’all made to the basement, I’m most grateful for the conversations we have once I’m home from production. Our living room debriefs bring me so much joy (except right now because Avery is blasting Weezer’s Christmas music and I can’t concentrate on writing). 

Jaz, nights at the basement go quicker when we text about matters that fail the Bechdel test. Thanks for dealing with me. I love you and happy birthday!

At sa wakas, thank you to the Texan. Amidst all the design discourse that plagues my mind, I’m glad I had a place every week to make, storytell and work with printed matter. I can’t wait to see what’s next for the Texan. I’ll be the future data visual department’s number one fan.