Q:What inspired you to go into journalism?
A: “It was one of our electives in eighth grade, and it was hard at first, but I went with it. From there, I enjoyed it.”
Q: Since you were writing in junior high, how has it affected your time in high school?
A: “It takes up a lot of time, but I’ve learned to manage my time well in the classes I’m in besides my journalism classes; they are my AP classes. It helped me learn to manage time and not procrastinate.”
Q: What are some challenges you face
A: “My passion for yearbook has been my biggest concern. Everyone says junior year was hard. But when I brought in my APs into my junior year, plus having a pretty big associate editor role, it was pretty tough. It was hard to balance.”
Q: What is a normal day like for you at school?
A: “First, I start my day off in AP Literature, and then I go into the journalism room for yearbook. Afterward I go to AP Calculus, and then I do community service work in Mrs. Vanish’s room, gym and back to Mrs. Vanish’s room for newspaper. Finally, there’s AP Economics, and study hall, where I spend some time getting work done. Pretty productive overall.”
Q: What’s it like being editor of the yearbook like?
A: “In my junior year, I was in charge of our cameras, so I chose photos that would be on our in the yearbook. That’s really cool too, because I have a passion for photography.”
Q: What do you look forward to in your writing?
A: “I honestly look forward to talking to people. I really like hearing other people’s sides of things and how they view a situation or an event or just things in life. I like knowing how they view things.”
Q: What’s the hardest part of writing, in your opinion?
A. “Trying to put it all together. Mainly because you get so many sources, and you have your basic information. Unless it’s an opinion article, you can’t use your opinion but only straight facts. So sometimes you have so many different sources, they don’t always go together. So really, just trying to make it sound cohesive instead of multiple different stories.”
Q: What’s been your favorite memory in high school?
A: “My favorite memories throughout all of my high school period are probably the ones from journalism. It reminds me we’ve gotten so many opportunities like we’ve gotten to go to New York and Philadelphia. We also do many conventions and travel to colleges and stuff.”
Q: If you could design the yearbook, what would it look like?
A. “Me and the Editor in Chief of this year’s yearbook, Addisen McDonald, collaborated to make the theme for this year and last year’s book. So basically, we just made Google Slides of a template of what we liked. And this is a project that the staff do every year, and ours was voted. And so we got to see our project come to life last year, and that’s how we’re hoping for this year. So it’s already come through. I’m seeing everybody fulfilling what me and Addi are envisioning.”
Q: Who do you look up to?
A: “I don’t think I look up to a single individual. I think I know a lot of people who say, ‘I look up to my parents or my grandparents.’ My parents have shaped me into the person I am today. There’s no doubt about that. But I honestly think that all my peers around me shape me into who I am, and I look up to everybody, individually and as a group, just how people view things and how they respond to certain situations. I try to look at how people do things and if I like it. I try to shape it into my own life.”
