Two Daily Texan reporters and a Texan photographer were determined they would cover the SEC Women’s basketball championship game, being played 1,075 miles away in Greenville, S.C.  The three student journalists who made the 16-hour journey from central Texas to Greenville were reporters Anna Ambrose and Zachary Davis and photographer Charlie Partheymuller. During the post-game press conference, UT Coach Vic Schaefer recognized the three and thanked them for their dedication to their jobs. “I want you all to know that when it comes time to get a job, you put me on your resume,” Schaefer said to the students. “I’m proud that you guys are here, and I’m proud that you take enough pride in your job that you would do that because you don’t have to do that.” Below is an article, done travelogue style, written by the students outllning their trip, written by Anna and Zach, with photos by Charlie.

Thanks to the student journalists for putting together this article after they finished the 16-hour trip back to Austin.

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“I think Anna and I both rolled our eyes a little when Zach pulled out his phone in the circle drive of the Union on 24th apartment building and said, “taking a photo to post on Twitter.” We had no idea how far that post would travel, and how much attention it would bring to us and our work. “  -Charlie

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Zach and I had floated around the idea of driving to South Carolina for a few weeks before we actually made our journey, but it was more of a joke. But when the budget wouldn’t allow both of us to go, we decided to do it. I believe the exact words I sent in the Slack channel were “we are driving #yolo.”

We kicked off our voyage by listening to a podcast about UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley and all his wacky ways. I mean the guy said he had a “weirdo room.” I’ll just let that speak for itself.

The rest of our trip was spent listening to NOKIA by Drake on repeat, which Zach alleges is the song of the summer, chatting about sports and performing the entire Hamilton soundtrack for Charlie. This was his first impression of Zach and I, and I am so grateful he didn’t write us off as lunatics as we belted “Aaron Burr, Sir,” as we hurtled through Alabama.

I don’t think we would’ve survived the journey without the many calls from our friends from the sports department. Shoutout to them for staying on the phone for us for a collective five hours so we didn’t go insane without contact from the outside world.

Charlie and I educated Zach the Californian about the classic Texas establishment Sonic, and forced him to stop there for lunch. Zach said he wasn’t impressed by what he ordered, but we try not to hold that blasphemous sin against him. When we reached Mississippi, we stopped at Popeye’s and I had the best chicken sandwich I have ever consumed in my life. Still thinking about it a week later.

After arriving in Greenville at 3 A.M. and spending the night at our slightly questionable hotel, we headed off to the first game of the tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. As we watched the game unfold, we hoped that Texas would hold on long enough so that we wouldn’t have to go home the next day. And the Longhorns did exactly that.

Texas beat Mississippi State and LSU, so we booked another night at the hotel and prepared for a final against South Carolina, one of the only two teams to hand Texas a loss earlier in the season.

The game was nothing short of eventful. From Texas scoring only six points in the second quarter, to my nosebleed sending me to the athletic trainer’s office, I don’t think we could’ve imagined a more interesting game.

Zach and I entered the postgame press conference as usual while Charlie went to edit his photos. We had front row seats as we watched Taylor Jones, Vic Schaefer and Rori Harmon file in to answer our questions that I’m sure they were not in the mood for. After the players talked to us, it was just Coach Schaefer up on the stand. As soon as Zach asked his question, Schaefer bypassed it and gave us that shoutout that we still can’t believe happened.

Being recognized by the SEC Coach of the Year on a national stage is not something I thought would come out of this trip at all. Student journalists make drives like this all the time with no acknowledgment, purely out of the love and commitment they have for their job. Even though we were the ones being recognized, it felt like a shoutout to all the student journalists in the country that have the same dedication we do, and we feel so lucky to be a part of that group.

Showing up really does make a difference. Our professors preach that to us constantly, and it turns out they might have known what they were talking about.

-Anna and Zach