This week, my English teacher passed back letters we wrote to our future selves, an assignment from freshman year. As I drove back to campus to pick mine up, I couldn’t help but wonder — who am I? Am I the person, or the idea of a person, my freshman self wrote to and aspired to become?

I was thrust into high school as one of only three people coming to a public magnet school from my very small middle school. With few to rely on but myself, I realized pretty quickly how little I really knew about myself and what my true passions were. I spent the majority of the year wading through the treacherous waters of pre-AP classes, new friends and new drama, as well as a multitude of short-lived careers in various clubs and extracurriculars. Nothing felt right, but there were so many stones unturned and paths undiscovered ahead — high school, and LASA specifically, has so many opportunities to find your specific niche and little communities, and you just have to be patient and diligent before one inevitably comes across your individual path. And that’s how I found Newspaper.

I signed up for the newspaper on a whim after seeing the passion of student editors during a club fair and was instantly hooked by the excitement of a working publication. As a member of the Liberator, I have created graphics, written feature stories, done countless interviews and managed teams of staffers and editors. But beyond that, I found a family here of people of varying backgrounds and viewpoints who have seen my highs and my lows and always pushed me to realize my own capability and unique voice.

Now, here I am, 18 years old, entering the world of adulthood and fully prepared to face the unseen opportunities ahead. The uncertain hopefulness in that letter, written by a younger me that now seems so far away, made me realize that I accomplished exactly what I set out to do in my four years at LASA and more. Through the Liberator, I unearthed a confidence in myself, and my voice, that I know my freshman self would be proud of.