Three days after my 18th birthday, I sat at a tattoo parlor getting a tattoo of a camera on my arm. The camera was for me, for my sister and for everything I’ve accomplished through journalism in my life so far.
When I joined my first journalism class in middle school, I thought it would be a semester-long glimpse into my late sister’s life and be a way to connect with her a little more while grieving. By the time I got to high school, I knew it was something I loved doing not just to honor my sister, but for me.
Every day I couldn’t get out of bed, I had an interview that needed done.
Every time I was too emotionally exhausted to want to go to a school event on my own, the yearbook or newspaper needed photos.
Every time I didn’t want to go to school or a school event, journalism got me there. Without it, I can’t imagine what my high school experience would have been like, but it wouldn’t be anything close to what I have now.
Starting my freshman year of high school, I was sent to do a Q&A with someone in theater, and I was absolutely petrified to enter the room and talk to someone I didn’t know. Time and time again, I was forced out of my comfort zone to go and talk to people. By the summer in between my junior and senior year, at an internship I was walking into schools I’ve never been to and calling law firms, and attending press conferences with the governor, mayor and major corporations.
Through support and some trial in error, my confidence grew both in and outside the classroom. I became more willing to advocate for myself and others. I began to own my space in a way I didn’t used to.
The newspaper staff became my second family, and I knew that no matter the type of day I was having it would be safe and fun in 1504. At the newspaper banquet, I watched the continued success and support of the yearbook and newspaper staffs, and I was caught in the contagious energy.
I’ve had the privilege of watching the journalism program grow these past few years. When I joined my freshman year, I was already impressed by our program’s newspapers. I then got to help organize the website and help it become a national award-winning site, as we continued and improved our print newspapers.
This year the program got sweepstakes for the third year in a row at state, with several individual and staff wide awards. At nationals, we won multiple awards as a staff, including an award I earned for leadership. Throughout the past four years, that award has probably meant the most to me because it’s what I worked the hardest to improve.
Journalism has been the focus of my life for at least the past four years. After high school, I know it’s what I will remember the most. Every hour of work, every interview, every article, every photo helped shape me into the person I am today. The journalism program functions where what you put in determines what you get out of it, and I am forever grateful for all the growth I’ve had through this program.
My friends joke that I’m a workaholic, which is probably fair, but the work is rewarding and staying busy helps me be able to function. I realized journalism probably saved my life. It gave me direction, a purpose and made me a better person than I’d ever be without it.
