Thousands of students gathered in front of the Tower to celebrate Gone to Texas, a longstanding tradition for new students to commemorate the start of the semester. Freshman Dhilan Nag watched from the crowd as his submission for the Gone to Texas video contest played to laughter and thunderous applause. 

The contest requires contestants to make a creative video about UT’s meaningfulness. A panel of judges, including this year’s student body president and vice president, Helen Getachew and William Ramirez, graded the videos to determine which would show at the ceremony. The top three videos premiered at Gone to Texas on Aug. 20, with Nag announced as the winner. 

Nag’s submission compared choosing a college to looking for good real estate and suggested that UT made for the best house on the market. 

“A lot of what I was talking about in the video is only a small slice of what I was looking for (in a college),” said Nag, an electrical and computer engineering major. “UT has so much more to offer than just the major I’m focusing on.” 

Both Getachew and Ramirez said they felt impressed by how much each video resonated with them. The creativity displayed in all submissions impressed them the most. 

“I liked how the winners of the contest were able to not only provide meaning on what being a Longhorn means to them, but do so in a way that was very entertaining,” Getachew said. “It also showed their personality, which was really nice.”

Nag boasts experience in videography and animation. He began producing content on the program Scratch nearly 10 years ago under the name Dhilly. The program serves as an interactive platform for young animators and coders. While Scratch targets a younger audience, Nag said he uses it as an outlet to create content and help others.

“I want to give (my audience) videos they can model off of or be inspired by,” Nag said.

His over 36.5 thousand followers view his account’s satirical and educational animations, and Nag said he aspires to do more video work in the future. He said the Gone to Texas video contest allowed him to start taking that on sooner rather than later. 

“Just because someone has a specific major doesn’t mean that defines the rest of their talents and their characteristics,” Nag said. “I wanted to prove that to myself.”

Similarly, the runner up, studio art freshman Anacia Scogin, said the number of perspectives and the amount of support UT students experience impressed her. After seeing all the submissions, Scogin said she might even pick up radio-television-film as a second major.

“As an art major, you don’t get validated a lot, but UT is very open to different majors, and they’re very supportive of the art community,” Scogin said.

While Nag wishes he emphasized more on the collaborative social culture he’s come to know at UT, he said he feels satisfied with how his video turned out. With just a few weeks on the Forty Acres under his belt, Nag believes more than ever that UT can help him explore his varying interests and goals. 

“I don’t want my life to be a complete linear path where I grow up, I get my degree and then keep working on the same technology my entire life,” Nag said. “I’m keeping my doors open for sure.”