After 2 1/2 years, this will be my last column as a member of The Oklahoma Daily’s staff.

In that time, I was able to get a taste of most everything OU sports had to offer.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve had the opportunity to write about everything from rowing to football. I’ve met some kind people and some unpleasant ones; been to nice venues and crappy ones; and written good stories and probably some bad ones.

I covered the incomparable Blake Griffin in the NCAA Tournament a few years back, and I also covered the incompatible 2009-10 men’s basketball team.

I was in the press box this season when the Sooners watched their No. 1 BCS ranking disappear in Columbia, Mo., and I also was in Cowboys Stadium when OU defeated Nebraska in a Big 12 Championship game that will be remembered for years to come — and not just because it may be the last one for a while.

I watched the Paris twins redefine OU women’s basketball and was sitting on the sideline when Courtney Paris fouled out against Tennessee, ending her double-double streak that may never be broken.

I was able to do all those things while working beside some of the biggest names in journalism, both in Oklahoma and in the country.

I got to experience things that — depending on where my post-grad life takes me — could turn out to be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

It would be wrong for me to go any further without thanking The Daily and everyone who I’ve worked with, who I’ve worked for and those who have worked for me. This organization gave me the opportunity to go from an unpaid intern to editor of the sports page to now being the beat writer for the most prestigious sports team in the state.

It would be even more wrong for me to neglect to thank God for the positions I was put in, the opportunities I was given and the success I had in each of those opportunities.

I never thought I’d be the guy who wrote one of these farewell columns. I’m not pretentious enough to think that many — if any — of those who read The Daily sports page will miss me or my contributions, because someone equally qualified will likely take my place.

However, it would feel inadequate to spend this, my last opportunity to be published in the foreseeable future, just talking about another player or game. And even this will feel inadequate, but it is the best I can come up with.

Thank you, and good luck in the future to everyone who helped me achieve all the things I did in these past five semesters.

— Aaron Colen, journalism senior