I remember sitting on my bed in 8th grade filling out my choice sheet for LASA. My mouse hovering over “Yearbook”, then “Newspaper”, then “Yearbook” again, and so forth. I couldn’t make up my mind which one to fill my sole elective spot with. I had just finished working on my middle school’s yearbook as a copy editor, and I loved it. However, I had also just finished the episode of Gilmore Girls where Rory joins the Yale Daily News. Something told me I would love newspaper even more.
Thus began my journey with The Liberator, which turned out to be nothing like the one I had seen on my favorite show. I did not find myself getting yelled at by angry ballerinas who didn’t like my reviews or by condescending editors-in-chief who thought my stories were bland. Instead, I found myself in a Zoom meeting room with 16 other kids (only three of whom were staffers like me). While the editors in my class discussed things like “AP style” and “pull quotes”, I sat with stars in my eyes, wondering how this group of students would be able to produce a 16-page newspaper in six weeks. Nevertheless, our first issue came out at the end of the quarter. When I first laid eyes on it, I discovered that the story I had spent three weeks toiling over was only a fraction of what had been published. There were several longer stories, as well as captions, photos, and some of the most amazing student artwork I had seen.
As the months went by I gained more of an understanding of how this mysterious machine worked. I got to report on interesting stories happening all around me— a human trafficking exhibit opening, a theater reopening after a global pandemic shut it down, and a football referee accused of racism at a state championship. By the end of the year, I knew, without a doubt, that I wanted to be a part of this team for the rest of my time at LASA.
In my time since, the fun has only continued, whether it was making pizza bagels with Norah, passing around my tightly closed thermos in vain, or playing Connections with Asha. Being on The Liberator taught me how to write clearly, how to design spreads, and how to be a leader. And while those are invaluable lessons, the most important thing it taught me was that a community can be found anywhere. When that freshman four years ago finally made up her mind and selected “Newspaper”, she would’ve never anticipated that it would be the best decision she made.
