The last high school sports seasons around the county came to a close at the end of last week with Sealy and Bellville baseball falling in the regional quarterfinal, so theoretically speaking, my job is done here so I’m gonna head home for the summer.

Not really. In case you hadn’t seen, the rest of these sports pages are filled with content you should most definitely read.

Anyway, this column is quite the opposite of a see ya later; it is very much so more a thank you in reflection of my first year of covering sports full time.

’Tis the season of graduations and new futures being embarked upon and I am certainly a product of that, sitting here writing in the final hours of May 20, exactly a year after I graduated college.

The first thank you needs to go to my mother, who put up with me in those few weeks after that day leading up to me accepting the offer to come to this lovely part of the country and start my career. She was the one to keep me going after giving her an exasperated look of “what do I do now?” after spending just about the entire rest of the day looking for jobs, with no luck.

She was also the first one I broke the news to and joined me on my travels down the East Coast then west to the heart of Texas, which brings me to my next thank you.

Possibly the biggest token of appreciation out of my career will forever go to the woman who finally ended that un-grace period and supplied an opportunity to get me off the ground. Obviously, Karen Lopez didn’t make the decision all on her own, but if you know anything about the operation she runs here, I’m sure you get the picture. I mentioned in my introductory column that if Pete Rose were a betting man, I’d like to think he supported that gamble to bring a northerner to town. About 42 weeks later, I’ve learned, I’ve failed, I’ve grown, and I’ve even gotten to sleep every now and again.

Seriously though, I mention it a lot in conversations I have with the glorious people of this town, but the kids winning so much this year has really made my job a whole heck of a lot easier.

Bi-district and area championships came in slews and for that, I must thank the student-athletes of Austin County for giving me so much to write about. High school sports and its coverage is something completely different than professional sports. It’s much more intimate and I’d like to think in most cases, these kids care more about these games than some professionals do.

That takes me to my final point; I must thank all my friends and family back home for not so much allowing me but more so supporting me in the pursuit of my dreams which includes bringing those high school athletes to the spotlight.

I’ve gotten a lot of pats on the back for picking up and moving to a completely different part of the country just for a job, but I really haven’t seen it as that big a deal because of the support I’ve been receiving from New England.

The team “fear of missing out” (FOMO) has grown in popularity with social media’s explosion and there have been plenty of moments where I have seen pictures of my friends all hanging out without me and wished more than anything to be there but I know it’s going to be that much better when I see everyone this summer.

I would be remiss in my duties if I did not take the space to thank my fans as well, you the readers. The only reason I have this job is because people buy this paper, so I really can’t do it without y’all (you always hear that sort of phrase thrown around but in this case, we literally would not have a product if nobody bought it, so seriously, thank you).

Not everyone may buy it to read the sports section or even this column, but if you made a conscious decision to buy this May 23 version of The Sealy News, I greatly appreciate you and hope you know your efforts do not go unnoticed.