I first thought about joining the newspaper when a few editors made a presentation during freshman year to encourage students to join. All I really remember from the presentation was two years of the class could count as a tech credit, and it was a weighted class. The only articles I had ever read from the newspaper were the senior 30s, and I only knew one student in the entire newspaper staff. I honestly thought I was going to take the newspaper class for a year or two and then move on to something else. I definitely did not expect that three years later I would be writing my own 30, looking fondly back on my time at the paper. 

When I first joined the newspaper staff, I always thought I would remember the large things, like seeing my first article printed in the paper or designing the graphics or photos on my first in-depth, but the things that will stick with me are the smaller moments in the paper, the day-to-day newspaper things which have helped me find a community at LASA and grow more confident in myself. 

Going into my first year on the newspaper staff, I knew few things about the newspaper process. I felt nervous conducting my first interview, and I read my interview questions over and over in my head, worrying that the questions were not complex or unique enough. Once, I got through a whole interview just to realize my phone had not been recording, so I had to redo the entire interview. When I got my draft of my first article back with edits, nearly every other sentence I wrote had a bold yellow comment with newspaper style edits about which numbers are supposed to be spelled out or how quotes should be formatted in articles. I definitely had my work cut out for me to adjust to the newspaper, but learning how to bounce back from mistakes and having the editor team there to support me has taught me a new kind of resilience. The editors were always there answering my questions and helping me see how my writing was growing throughout the year. As I wrote about more diverse topics, I gained more confidence in reaching out for interviews and writing articles. 

Interviewing students and teachers during my first year with the newspaper also helped me feel more connected to the LASA community. With each article on student activism or clubs adapting to online school or the new campus, I heard interesting stories about club initiatives or  projects students were working on, like starting their own t-shirt design companies or interning with local nonprofits. As I took photos at football games or read articles about teams traveling for competitions, I have learned more about our campus and neat opportunities students are investing in. 

When I became an editor the following year, I gained more responsibility with the paper but also found my place among the staff. I stayed at school until 8 or 9p.m. some evenings working to revise a few last words in articles or collect a handful more photos for a spread. The editors all sat together in the newspaper room prying our brains for creative headlines or funny alliteration for photo captions. During dinner, we laughed at terrible puns for the article headlines and grimaced at our terrible singing voices while belting karaoke to some songs we knew all too well. As we shared stories from our week and snacked on microwaved pizza bagels, we built a community from different grade levels and interests all working on one paper. Thank you to all the editors and staffers who have made my past three years such an amazing experience!