Browsing: Opinion

Baylor’s fiscal issues are affecting far more than the dollar amount you see in BearWeb. It is fundamentally changing our university and what makes Baylor, Baylor. It’s hitting departments, retirement and, on a personal level, The Lariat’s newsroom.

Flirting involves overthinking a like on an Instagram story. It’s noticing who views your story first and what that might mean. It’s going through someone’s TikTok reposts, trying to understand how they think, or if there’s something they’re trying to say about you without actually saying it.

After well over 100 articles with my byline written and hundreds more read and published after crossing my desk, my time with The Lariat has officially come to a close.

Baylor has been a blessing for me these past four years, but it’s time to say goodbye.

It’s funny how the smallest things can make an impression on us. And across nine semesters at The Lariat, there have been plenty. I’ll miss late-night Andy’s runs, traveling to cover the biggest Baylor sporting events, shooting hoops in the newsroom and even waking up before 6 a.m. to rush over to campus to deliver papers. Above all else, I’ll miss the people in the newsroom whose voices constantly make me smile.

From Baylor athletics to Fountain Mall swims, tune in for a guide to graduating seniors on do’s and don’ts for the last stretch of time at Baylor, from a senior.

Senioritis is hard. It’s not because of a choice to suddenly become “lazy,” but because, for the first time, I can see what’s beyond the finish line, and I feel ready to move on with my life.

The next time you want to complain about Waco, remember that there is a lot of beauty here. You’re not living in a desert or driving three hours to reach the nearest airport. There are plenty of hidden gems to discover in Waco — you just have to discover and appreciate them.

By regulating attire, the SLC may also unintentionally limit the amount of physical activity students can comfortably engage in. Gym clothing should match the intensity of the workout. Allowing the body to regulate temperature more effectively during long sessions can improve performance. Permitting tank tops would help achieve that.

What is unsettling about almost is that it feels alive. It sits between reality and fantasy, both possible and lost at once. We replay it in our minds not as something over but as something suspended and frozen, waiting for us to admit we let it slip.

Just blocks from campus, Wacoans live without a place to stay, asking for money on the corner of every popular grease pit location. All the while, one of the state’s largest universities hasn’t done much to drive change.

If I were still carrying a TPUSA title, what happened on April 22 would have been enough for me to walk away. You don’t fight for free speech by banning student journalists. You don’t build a movement by turning away supporters who drove hours to be there. And you don’t honor Charlie Kirk’s legacy mocking fellow students in a half-empty room.

If the majority of your principles as a voter align more closely with one side or the other, failing to vote with that party is not only throwing away one of our most important rights as Americans, but it is also helping the people you disagree with win.

As we near the end of the year and move out of or into a new place, I wanted to share a reminder that we don’t need to buy everything new. It’s okay to not have all the latest and greatest things. Keeping up with the Joneses is all fun and games until it runs you into the ground.

For some students, figuring it out later could mean taking an interesting class or switching their majors a few times. For others, it means risking financial aid, wasting time or choosing between passion and stability. These are not the same situation.

Nothing feels normal anymore. There is an underlying sexualization of everything, even though it is completely unnecessary. That’s the problem — people should be able to scroll through social media without suggestive content being forced on them.

Excuses like “this person did this” or “I should’ve been different because …” do not make the world better. Everyone wants to sit atop a pedestal, but wants to be placed there rather than working to earn it.

Before finals start, a good number of classes assign group projects that most students like me don’t enjoy. I can’t wait to be done with group projects. If I could remove one thing from my coursework, it would be this.

Devote yourselves to fellowship, commit to your community that’s right in front of you and be open to welcome others in. You have the power to create community. Besides, you may never know how much someone else needs a friend until you decide to be one.

The postwar order is ending in real time. The people running the world are old, and they won’t be around to live with the consequences of the choices they’re making now.

Oftentimes we’re haunted by our failures. The cycle begins with feeling inadequate, even when we’ve exhausted ourselves with a never-ending list of goals. Yet the true failure is not what we aren’t able to accomplish; it’s failing to notice or celebrate every win that comes our way.

As a freshman, I recall planning my weekends around dining hall hours, which, for an unlimited meal plan, seems rather limiting. Two years and one new food supplier later, Penland Hall is still the only spot that stays open past 9 p.m., and it happens only four nights a week. In that time, Baylor also closed Brooks Great Hall without meaningfully changing other facilities’ hours.

What gives us the authority to decide what is “cringe”? We cannot possibly consider ourselves so important to be the all-knowing determiners of what is the norm. We’ve gotten so wrapped up in our perception of others that it’s warped our sense of self. The reason we joke, “to be cringe is to be free,” is simple — it gives us an excuse to be ourselves in a world that is often far too judgmental.

Everyone loves to have an opinion on Greek life during Homecoming, Sing and parties, but when it comes time to raise money for a good cause, the attention subsides. I want to encourage more students and faculty to participate in and donate to philanthropies when Greek organizations hold public events.

The first thing that disappears after someone dies isn’t the person. It’s what you’re allowed to say about them. Once someone dies, the language around them changes.

What if the best part of your week was a conversation you almost didn’t have?

The U.S. Congress must represent the nation, which, in turn, is always developing. Every new generation is associated with new problems, new difficulties and new solutions. Congressmen should not be able to serve forever. A term limit will help the country to move in tandem with the changing society.

What looked like a surprise appearance at Coachella was really something much deeper. For those of us who grew up alongside Justin Bieber, Bieberchella felt like watching someone find his way back to himself — and reminding us we can too.

What might it look like if students attended All Are Neighbors, then walked together to the Quadrangle for prayer and, from there, continued on to the Turning Point USA event? What conversations might emerge not in isolation, but in movement — in the shared experience of listening, reflecting and then listening again?

Sometimes, the most powerful step forward is accepting that not everything will make sense. Life will be life, and not every situation needs an explanation — only a willingness to learn and grow from it.