Have you ever stopped, looked around and asked yourself, “How did I get here?”

Earlier this month, I got a LinkedIn notification congratulating me on three years with The Battalion. Three years — an insane amount of time. Seven out of my eight semesters at Texas A&M. Almost one-seventh of my entire life.

I look back at those three years now and wonder, “How did I get here?”

I joined The Batt in April 2022. Actually, I submitted my application in November 2021 to radio silence, and I was thankfully still not busy when they reached out with an interview request after five months. I only applied at the behest of fellow Lechner-McFadden dorm complex resident Caleb Elizondo, who would eventually edit my stories and with whom I now serve as an editor.

I only applied because of Caleb, and I only got to know Caleb through a chance meeting on a dorm bus ride event to the H-E-B on Texas Avenue, which I only attended because I met my then-future roommate Jenna by chance on a Rec Center tour, and we only started talking on the bus because I said I liked her hat.

So many minuscule decisions; so many could-have-beens, so many what-would-have-beens. Where would I be if I hadn’t complimented Jenna’s hat back in 2021? If Caleb and I didn’t get to talking about The Batt over dorm dinners?

I have no idea, but I do know that I’m incredibly lucky everything worked out the way it did.

I was a little nervous at first about joining The Batt. I knew I was a strong writer — that wasn’t the problem. But everything I had ever written felt deeply personal. 

For me, writing was just taking your inner monologue and regurgitating it onto paper. Seeing other people read my work — even high school English essays — made me nervous and, for some reason, embarrassed. And that was with largely impersonal topics going only to professors, as opposed to opinions I hold near and dear going out to the entire student body and anyone else who cared to read. What if I couldn’t handle it?

It turns out I could, and I’m beyond glad I decided to give The Batt the proverbial college try.

I’ve seen this publication through four opinion editors, two faculty advisors, the former president Kathy Banks’ no-more-print scare of 2022 and more breaking news, hate mail and editors-in-chief than you can count. And let me be the first to say, it’s been an absolute pleasure.

Now, staring down the barrel of graduation and a cross-country move to North Carolina for law school, I find myself sentimental. I came to A&M a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman ready to do … whatever it was college students were supposed to do. I was homeschooled, so suffice it to say that going from that to the largest university in the state produced a heavy culture shock.

As corny as it sounds, I found myself at The Battalion. From developing my narrative voice to learning to be OK with sharing my work, the basement of the Memorial Student Center offered endless opportunities for growth.

And once I joined the editorial team, it began to feel like a second home. 

One thing I’ve realized, as I gear up for graduate school and the real world, is that it’s never going to be this easy to make friends again. The Batt gave me a place to see my favorite people five days a week in probably the healthiest office environment I’ll ever work in, and for that, I’ll be forever thankful.

I love this publication, and I love this school. Before last semester, I was beyond ready to go out of state for law school — counting down the days, even. But then I became an editor and got to know everyone at The Batt, and now all I can think about is how much I’ll be leaving behind.

To all my editors — Basil, Caleb, Ryan and, tangentially, Nico — I’d like to apologize for my habit of double-spacing after periods. I’d like to say I’m working on it, but I’m not. I will keep doing it, and I can only hope none of my law professors care overmuch.

To the greatest opinion section in the country (I’m biased, but it’s true) — Maddie, Lilia, BJ, Kaleb, Josh, Wyatt and Sidney — thank you for your critiques, your ideas, your undying support and your endless talent.

To my current editorial family — my love Isa, Nico, Ian, Sophie, Caleb, J.M., Julia, Tenny, Theresa, Fallon, Braxton, Mathias, Matthew, Kynlee, Pranay, Adriano and Ashely — thank you for the laughs, the hugs and everything else that makes this basement a home. I love y’all.

To those we’ve lost — Luke Wide, Chris, Hannah, Nikhil and Mikayla — may they rest in peace (don’t worry, they’re not dead; they just graduated or moved on — which is basically the same thing). I love y’all, too.

And, last but certainly not least, to everyone I’ve ever shot the breeze with in the office — Jstan, Steve, Youngchan, Zoe and all the others I don’t have room to mention — thank you for making it all worthwhile. 

So here’s to late-night chats in the newsroom, side quests and the phrase “my goat.” Here’s to staying in the office long after the paper was exported, to podcast room fanfiction readings and to Slack reactions. Here’s to rejected offers for rides, the 1 a.m. Whataburger runs I slept through and all the nights out I’ve missed. It’s been an honor.

I’m off to North Carolina now. Who knows what chance meeting or compliment thrown to the wind will set off another incredible three-year experience? 

When I look at the person I am today and wonder how I got here, I have my answer: The Batt and all the people in it.

Thanks for the memories. I’ll take it from here. And don’t worry — this isn’t goodbye.