Computer, write me a senior-sendoff from my position as assistant web editor of The Retrograde, UTD’s independent student-run newspaper. Computer, make sure it’s really sappy and inspiring and makes my brain look enormous. Computer, what do you mean “assistant web editor is hardly a real job?” Computer, what do you mean you’ve got nothing? Computer, do you really think I can write? Wait, I just remembered. I can.
UTD is a university famous for many things. Our famously undefeated (and less than existent) football team is subject to many jokes to the point of having merchandise at the bookstore — which is how you know that the joke is dead and had its carcass defiled and thrown into a ditch off Campbell Road. Our computer science program is best-in-state for people who didn’t get into UT Austin or A&M. Our mascot is a fiery blue omen of death that somehow only manages to get more terrifying every year. But damn, do I love this place. And ever since I joined The Retrograde as a staff writer in spring 2025, I’ve had opportunities to celebrate, admonish or step back in awe at the majesty of the MIT of the South through this paper.
From investigating the sudden disappearance of the UTD cross country and track teams to following a group of Comets as they journeyed to meet Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog himself, my work here at The Retrograde has allowed me to not only bring light to often overlooked members of the UTD community, but to also force my homebody self to interact with all of the incredible people around me. I’m going to be real with you guys for a second — I hate putting myself out there and having to start conversations by myself. But being a reporter puts you into the field, requiring you to reach out to the rest of the world until you get the scoop you need to write a banger piece. Even I, backup computer man, was able to turn into someone who was more in tune with the community here at UTD through my interactions with so many different people.
And that’s really where you learn to enjoy being here at UTD. Meeting cool people and seeing all of the awesome programs and services offered to Comets firsthand really fosters a deep appreciation for North Texas’ premier degree mill. That isn’t to say that I completely forgive UTD for their many, many goofs over the years, but I’ve been able to appreciate my life here as part as a network connecting so many disparate wonderful people together, this elusive “school spirit” that students of flagship universities speak of in hushed tones at campfires to spook commuter schoolgoers.
The university is evolving fast nowadays. A new student union is opening next year, construction of new housing was announced then canned, the mega Halal Shack will soon grace UTD halal enthusiasts and to my dismay a new wing of JSOM will be opened. If things go according to the admin’s plan, then UTD will become a serious contender for the title of second best public university in Texas in a decade’s time. But along the way there will be many roadbumps, explosions and for some reason still power outages, and there’s no one I trust more on campus to cover them than the new blood at The Retrograde stepping up to take the reins. I have fond memories of staying up until ungodly hours of the night alongside the web editor, whose sendoff you should also read, making sure that every piece gets uploaded on time, an experience that will no doubt quickly become familiar to my successors. And to people who might be even vaguely interested in journalism — feel free to apply and try it out! I did and I loved it enough to write about it.
Dying forever for real this time,
Muaaz Abed