I’m just writing this so I don’t get fined.
Freshman year, I was forced into Journalism 1 by my sister. She constantly talked about how great of a program it is, how she loved writing, loved the people and she would not stop until I signed up. Four years later, I credit and thank her for plugging me into the place where a good majority of my high school memories were made.
My freshman year, my life looked far different than it does now. In J1, I never saw what my sister saw in this program. I came to class, did my assignments, never thought much of it. Due to some scheduling conflicts, I was moved up to the newspaper class the second semester of my freshman year. My first semester was rough to say the least. I wanted to quit every day, I didn’t talk to anyone. Almost on a daily basis, I was texting my sister to tell her I was going to quit. Luckily, I listened to her advice of sticking it out more than I listened to my brother tell me to do what I want. I finally started to come out of my shell and become more comfortable on staff.
Sophomore year, I finally began to find my spot in journalism. It posed a different challenge. I had participated in team sports my entire life, but working on a team outside of athletics was foreign to me. Even though it was a challenge, I loved it. I finally began to see what my sister saw in journalism. I didn’t know it at the time but this was the start of some great friendships with total strangers. I became an editor this year, and for the first time I was placed in a leadership role. I was still an unsure underclassman, but at least I had fun writing now.
Junior year, it was fun to say the least. I embraced the culture and loved every day in journalism. By the end of the year, I had learned so much about journalism, others, yet I still had so much to learn about myself. In a year where I won awards for my writing, I became so done with “writing” that I never wanted to open a Google Doc again, and I quit.
Well, I quit newspaper. Kind of. Senior year, I started taking pictures, hoping to rekindle some sort of motivation within me, and honestly, I loved and still do love photography. I learned new skills, was presented with one of the coolest opportunities of my life when I shot at AT&T Stadium, and got to meet some great people. But I never connected. I’m extremely grateful for all of my photo friends, but I missed newspaper so much. I missed getting to know people, getting to express some of my thoughts. As much as a newspaper hiatus was needed for me to grow, it was still my home. When I came back to newspaper, I got to have one of the best semesters in journalism that I ever had. It felt like all the experiences I had over the last four years, the random photography side quest, it all built up to this semester.
With all this being said, journalism was consistent. Over four years, so much changes. Changes within yourself, friends, anything that could have changed, changed. In the fall, I wrote about what it was like to leave high school football behind, yet this is so different. Even though I will probably never publish any journalistic works again, this program has been so crucial in my life up to this point that the skills I’ve learned will stick with me for who knows how long, the memories will forever be imprinted in me, and the relationships forever cherished. All of them.
Even though I haven’t been great at expressing this, thank you. Thank you to everyone that have been on staff with me. Thank you to my co-editors this year, this year would not have been near as enjoyable or successful without you. Thank you to all of my old editors for believing in and shaping a young, shy kid into the writer, leader, and person I am today, and creating so many great underclassman memories. Thank you Mallett for being the best advisor I could ask for. You brought me in and continued to support me in all my endeavors and antics (this doubles as an apology for some of my actions over the years). Oh, and thank you Kathryn, I guess.
As my high school career comes to an end, I have spent entirely too long reflecting on the last four years. Right now, I have a decent idea of what I think next year will look like, but in reality, I have no idea. Part of this reflection has led me to one thought as to what I’ve “learned” over four years, and that’s to be unapologetically you. Not in a corny way, but in a genuine way. Cherish those that have stood by your side and stay strong on who you are as a person before all else.
Similar to my experience in journalism, music has been prevalent throughout high school in reflecting where I am as a person. The last weeks leading up to graduation, I’ve had the song “Child of God” by Chance the Rapper on repeat. In the song, Chance sings “Remember when it was your first day the first time, it couldn’t come at a worse place or worse time, and you remember that little voice with that rehearsed line, just repeating, Do your thing, child”. Honestly, that’s how it feels to reflect on my time in journalism. Remember that kid that sat in the back, scared to write and scared to ask questions. Look at how far he’s come. He trusted God’s plan for his life, and continues to. He stuck out the hard times and celebrated the good. So to little me,
Just do your thing child.
