Associate Design Editor can now make plans on Monday nights

I applied for the Texan’s design department in August of 2024, on the very last day applications were due. Little did I know, I would be taking my departure five semesters later, forever grateful for the creative outlet and source of endless inspiration.

I began my undergraduate career with design as my hobby, but halfway through, I shifted to making it my career. Throughout this change, the Texan has been my constant, something I’m comfortable with where I can create and experiment. Each cutout trick, two-page spread, crossword page and cover have built me into a better designer, whether I liked it or not.

In my six years of working in newspaper design, I’ve seen it all. From making eight pages in a night when Ana, Genese and I had to put out two papers twice a week last fall to Ana and I going to Kins Dining every single shift freshman year so we could see the light of day on Mondays. In the end, I am strangely happy to have spent so much of my time in a swivel chair, hidden in the design department corner with my Cabo Bob’s and airpods in.

To Ana, the first person I met at the Texan and my forever friend! Your resilience, artistry and infectious optimism have kept me moving through every night we’ve spent in the basement. There’s no one else I’d rather want to see Lorde with or walk four miles with on an Easter Egg hunt. Thank you for listening to all my crashouts and telling me exactly what I don’t want to hear. You’re the best friend anyone could ask for and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things you’ll do after this chapter!

To Carla, Genese, Andrea, Emily, Amanda, Anika, Kaylee and all of the lovely people I’ve met through design, thank you for inspiring me every day. I have made some of the most kind and compassionate friends through this department and I’m honored to have known you all through our time together.

To Fall ‘25 and Spring ‘26 management, thank you for your patience with me on so many covers and late nights. Sending to print was much less painful with good leadership, and I’m so proud of all the work we created over the year.

To Peter, thanks for making me and Ana laugh and for being our personal photographer for the end-of-semester slideshow. I’m going to miss your critiques and random life lessons.

To DW, you continue to inspire me two years post-grad. From one Texan alum to, now, another, thank you for your mentorship and entrusting me in my first design editor position.

To Naomi, Lanie and Francie, my first newspaper friends, miles away, I couldn’t have survived half of these shifts without you! To Sofia, Ella and Emma, thank you for being the best friends to come home to, and to Ella and Addison, thank you for visiting me and always brightening my day.

To Ethan and my parents, you know I couldn’t have done any of this without you. Thank you for your endless support and visits. I love you!

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have had a leadership role in this organization, and to create and publish my work amongst the talented writers and artists that populate the basement. I’ve now learned to set my deadlines to 10:30 p.m. when they’re really 12 a.m., and I don’t know how I’ll get rid of the habit of naming every file I export from InDesign dt20260811-01.

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