I have always been in love with sports, but I didn’t know what that meant for me. I do now, and it’s all thanks to The Battalion.

When I started at Texas A&M in the fall of 2020, I had my mind set on being a women’s soccer coach. 

That’s what I wanted, and that’s what I worked towards.

Well, until I started to coach youth soccer and took an anatomy and physiology course. After I had started on the journey to coaching, I decided that it wasn’t in the cards for me.

I Q-dropped that anatomy class, and soon enough it was time to register for classes.

If you are into sports journalism at A&M, you know Angelique Gammon. I was not into journalism at all, but I searched “sports” in the class search and Journalism 359 – Reporting Sports popped up. I enrolled in it, and I haven’t looked back.

I took Journalism 359 in the spring of 2022. By the following August, I was part of The Battalion’s sports desk on the soccer beat — shocking, I know. 

That incredibly humid press box at Ellis Field became my favorite place on Earth because there I was doing what I loved. I would attend sports desk meetings with my fingers crossed that I would get to write the game that week. To no one’s surprise, I got almost every single one.

In the fall of 2023, I became an editor on the sports desk with Luke and Hunter. With their support, I became more confident in my writing, editing and leadership skills. As much as the boys annoy me like brothers, I have them to thank. So, thank y’all.

As time ticked by, I covered other sports like tennis, football, basketball and softball. Soccer — my one true passion — began to have some competition as I stepped into Davis Diamond for the first time.

I covered Aggie softball’s first and second seasons under coach Trisha Ford. On April 23, I stepped into a press box for the final time. A&M softball defeated Houston 12-2, and as I walked down to the press conference, I started to tear up.

I had to hold in my emotions as I asked my final press conference questions to coach Ford and her junior shortstop Koko Wooley.

I finished my story, packed up my bag and took the elevator down for the last time. It hit me. I was done. 

My time with The Battalion and A&M has impacted me more than I ever thought they could. I have met amazing friends, and I have learned so very much. Oh, and I learned to never use the Oxford comma.

So, The Batt, I leave you with this: thanks, gig’em.