For as long as she can remember, sophomore Melissa Krainer has had a love for reading, her favorite stories being those of fiction. However, when her seventh-grade teacher recommended her for the AAJHS Livewire, she saw an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. 

A year under the guidance of Livewire adviser Bron Clouser proved to spark a new passion: journalism. And carrying that passion over to high school has been one of the best decisions Krainer has made, as she loves it. And though she loves all kinds of writing, her favorite is feature writing. 

“I love feature writing in particular because you kind of get to share other people’s stories and get your name out there that other people might overlook,” Krainer said. “Just individual stories that, as a reporter, I get to share.” 

According to Krainer, being a part of the newspaper staff isn’t only beneficial to her as a hobby, it has also made her better as a writer. 

I think specifically objectively writing has really improved my objective writing skills,” Krainer said. “Before we were focused on fiction, but through this, I’ve learned how to avoid bias and just give the facts and present the facts as they are.” 

Though she loves journalism, Krainer is still on the fence about whether or not she will pursue it following high school. 

“I’m still debating whether I want to go into journalism into environmental engineering,” Krainer said. “I’m not sure what I will choose yet, but journalism is still really an option for me, potentially, after high school. So, we’ll see how it goes.”

She may not be sure about journalism in the long run, but Krainer is sure that she wants to pursue journalism throughout her senior year. 

“I hope to continue writing throughout probably my senior year, but I don’t really know if I want to be an editor, ” Krainer said. “It seems like a lot of work and time that I don’t really have. ButI definitely want to keep writing and reporting.” 

The opportunities presented with being on the Mountain Echo staff are some that Krainer is grateful that she was able to be included in. 

“You definitely talk to and get to know people and do interviews with the stories you have to write,” Krainer said. “Also going through things that Mrs. Vanish organizes, like the people that come in and talk about photojournalism, or like the trip to Columbia last year. Those opportunities allow you to work on connections, and just get to know a lot of people, and better yourself as a reporter and a person.”

Krainer advises anyone thinking of coming onto the Mountain Echo staff to get to know the rules and guidelines in place. She also advises future reporters to get comfortable enough with the rules that they feel comfortable bending and breaking them. 

“Once you feel comfortable with [the rules], don’t be afraid to go outside of them,” Krainer said. “Go beyond the kind of guidelines and don’t be afraid to bend the rules sometimes. Sometimes that is exactly what you need to do to make the story that much better.”