Texan Mosaic

by STEVEN GEHEGAN//Sports Editor

It has been a long, memorable two years, as I have discovered what it is I want to do with the rest of my life.

After graduating from Frenship High School in 2014, I thought I had a plan in mind. I was going into the field of computer science. I had always been good at math and was able to work well with computers. I spent my first year at South Plains College as a computer science major. After a year, I had discovered that might not be what I want to do. And after thinking things over during that summer, I had decided that I wanted to try to be a sports writer, and work for a university.

So, at the start of my second year, I enrolled in several journalism classes, including Publications, which is where my life changed. The first year I spent mostly writing sports opinions and whatever else was needed. At first, I was shy and was not real close to many of the people on the newspaper staff. But that changed when I became an editor for my final years, when I met many people who I will remember for the rest of my life.

Of course, I will start off with the man who has been my mentor for the past two years, Charlie Ehrenfeld. While it may seem like at times he was tough, he always cared about me, and all of what he did made me a better sports writer. I am the writer I am because of his blue pen, and I will take everything that I have learned during the past few years and carry it with me for the rest of my life. I will always be thankful for all that he has taught me.

I will start with the first real friend I made at the paper. During my second semester, I made a great friend in Haiden Hawkins. While she was only a writer for one semester, she remained around the News Room. I was always happy to have all the classes together and being there to help each other with school work, even if it felt like I helped her more than she helped me (especially with math). But I still enjoyed working with her the longest out of all the people I met at the News Room. She is an extremely quirky person who I will miss.

Then there are the people who I had the honor to meet when I spent my first semester as an editor, and got to spend some extremely long and fun nights with. There is Riley Golden, someone I knew from Frenship, but got a chance to get to know him even better. Riley is a great guy who I always enjoyed getting to know and learned about videogames from. Riley was always with Matt Molinar, a great person who was always there to help me when I needed it this semester. I got to know Matty even better. 

Then there was another person I went to Frenship with, Tovi Oyervidez. While I never got a chance to meet her in high school, I got the honor to meet her in the News Room, and I am sure she is the nicest person that I will ever meet in my entire life. She was always there when I needed something and was always doing things to help me out. I always wished I could have done more for her, and was glad I got to spend some of my 21^st birthday with her. Thanks again for the present. It made the night better. I always have enjoyed seeing her, because, no matter what, she was always happy and will be hard to ever meet someone like her again.

Then there is Brandi Ortiz, who I got to know when we had a science class together with Tovi. I had fun eating lunch with her every other day before class while we all tried to get though geology. I enjoyed working through long nights with her because she was funny and always made me feel better. I got to have lots of fun celebrating her birthday with her.

I also met Alex Perez, someone who always expressed her emotions, while being a kind and friendly person to me. While I did not get to spend as much time with her, something looking back on now I would change, she always seemed like a kind person who enjoys her life. Despite not being as close to her as some of the others, I always enjoyed the time we spent together and will miss her when I am gone.

Then there where the two guys who I am close to. The first is Sergio Madrid, who I got to know during the past few years with the classes we had together. Then there’s Dominick Puente, the only person I can talk sports with and all the things that I did outside of class. I enjoyed the time that we spent between class together sharing stories of the things that he has done and what we are going to do with our lives. It was always nice to talk sports with you, since most of the others knew very little about any kinds of sports, and passing on what knowledge I have to help you out next semester.

Then there are the people I got to know during my last semester here, starting with Tyler York. Tyler is probably one of the nicest guys I have ever met. It is always nice meeting someone else from Florida. While we did not spend a lot of time together, I enjoyed getting to know you through the videos you posted, and the time we spent in Dallas. I enjoyed sharing a room with you and getting to know you. I am happy you were nice enough to put up with me on my 21^st.

Then there are two non-editors, Jordan Patterson and Desiree Mendez, who I got the privilege to get to know. I was happy to spend time with Jordan when we competed together in the sports event at TIPA and helping prepare for that. Also, I was happy to spend a longer amount of my free time in Dallas with her, especially since we share the same opinions about most of what happened in Dallas. Then there is Desiree, who was always nice and friendly. She seems to think about everyone else but herself, and I will miss her a lot.

Then there is the very loud Brittny Stegall. She always says what she thinks to me, and she is always willing to listen to me. I enjoyed the time we spent getting to know each other this semester. She always seemed so pure, and the more time I spent around her seemed to make me a better person. I wish you the best of luck with your life in San Angelo.   

Then I saved the last person for the one who I will miss the most from the News Room, Sara Marshall. During the past year, I got to know her, and I am the biggest fan of why we became close. But I will always be happy that it happened. I always enjoyed being able to talk to you about what was going on in my life, and you being able to help me with all my problems, no matter what they were. I always felt that we were good friends, even though I spent a lot of time giving you hell, while you would relate me to a female dog. I will always remember you as one of the best friends that I have had in my life, and will miss you the most when we go our separate ways. Thanks again for all that you have done for me, and I wish you well in the future.

I will miss all of you, and the News Room, with all the time I put in there. I will miss it all when I am gone.