If someone had asked me in middle school whether or not I would be in the school newspaper in high school, I would have said of course not. I’m still surprised with myself to this day that I took Journalism 1 in sophomore year, when I had little to no interest in writing at the time. However, I am glad to say that participating in the school newspaper has been one of the better decisions that I have made in my high school career. 

Although J1 was a pretty tough class to get through due to current events quizzes and long lectures, I’m happy that I trudged through it and made some new homies along the way. 

Some of my favorite memories from journalism include participating in different events such as the write-offs and doing in-person fundraisers at a football game. The write-offs were fun because it was cool watching our school win a bunch of trophies and certificates for different sections even though I didn’t win anything the second year I went. I still feel like I was robbed of a prize for my Picasso-level masterpiece of a cartoon depicting Skid Row and the homeless. That cartoon I made is something I still have stored away in a folder in my room, so I can proudly tell everyone in the future that I was a talented artist back in high school.

I remember having fun at the  fundraiser we did at a football game at the beginning of junior year too even though I don’t remember exactly what I did. I just recall that Mr. List was the one flipping the burgers and that I poured some water on the grill to watch it sizzle. 

I want to say a big thank you to Mr. List for being one of the coolest teachers I’ve had during high school. I have the feeling that most of my teachers weren’t that fond of me during high school since I liked to screw around in class, but Mr. List was really nice to me even though I still messed around from time to time. I remember one time during sophomore year, I got a bloody nose and dripped blood on Mr. List’s mousepad. I was scared at first since I thought I was going to get in trouble and was pretty surprised when Mr. List told me that it was no big deal and to just wipe it off. Finally, I want to thank all my classmates for making working with them in the newspaper such an extremely enjoyable and fun experience, even when  they liked to clown me.