A short proof that $w(3,k) \ge (1-o(1))k^2$

Here we present a short proof that the two-color van der Waerden number $w(3,k)$ is bounded from below by $(1-o(1))k^2$. Previous work has already shown that a superpolynomial lower bound holds for $w(3,k)$. However, we believe our result is still is of interest due to our techniques.