Q: What originally made you want to join yearbook?

A: ”I actually have a really big interest in literature, writing and reading, and I feel like being a part of yearbook, you’re taking a lot of pictures, and you’re doing a lot of writing, and you’re doing a lot of reading of people’s work. For me, a couple of my friends were involved in it, and even my sister, who graduated, was also involved. And that’s why I wanted to join. I just wanted to get involved, and I also wanted to interact with others. And it just really struck my interest because I really do have an interest in anything English. So again, reading, writing and literature.”

Q: How does being on the yearbook staff affect your life?

A: ”For me, it affects my life in a couple of ways. Actually, organization wise, I’m one of the Associate Editors. I am considered ‘The Fun Specialist’. What my job basically is, is I have to create Teamwork Tuesday activities for staff members. And, I also do a lot of things, like our party plannings, and so our Halloween party, our Thanksgiving little feast that we have in November, and then also our other parties in the future. I also do fun activities. So for me, to be able to do those activities, I have to be organized by taking some of my work and taking it outside of the classroom. And I also have to manage my time. I am doing work for yearbook, outside and inside of school. So honestly, I feel like that’s how it affects my life, because I have to manage my time now around yearbook because I am involved with other stuff as well.”

Q: What’s your best memory from yearbook?

A: ”It would probably have to be our Thanksgiving feast from last year. I really had a fun time with that. Basically the parties are all my favorite memories. Because with those parties, you’re able to connect and interact with the other staff members as well, and you’re also combined with Mountain Echo staff members. Yearbook and Mountain Echo really don’t ever combine usually, so it’s kind of rare for us to ever see each other. So it was really nice to have those, small, little gatherings and events within publications, and just bonding with staff members. So definitely, those parties, but especially the Thanksgiving feast, because with all those parties, and with all those events, you’re really able to bond with all of them.”

Q: How do you balance doing schoolwork and yearbook while also having some free time?

A: “The way I balance it is organization. I keep things organized: my school work, extracurricular work, my job outside of school. I have to stay organized.So trying to keep my stuff organized separately and make sure I have enough time to do different things. It’s how I balance myself out. Because if you’re not organized, then there really is no balance because you’re just going to end up, being sloppy”

Q: Have you made any friends through your book? If so, who are they?

A: “I’ve made a lot of friends. Last year’s editor, Olivia McMinn, who actually graduated, I really, became friends with her and a couple of the others like Aaliyah McGee. She was actually my mentor last year when we did mentors for yearbook. She was just such a great person to be around. They were older than me, so I looked up to them in a way They were experienced, and it was really nice to have those relationships because they taught me a lot in the yearbook, in publications and in the room and outside of the room. And so I have some friends from this year that are younger than me. And I feel like they kind of passed the torch down to me. So I feel like those relationships I had last year with last year’s seniors really helped shape the relationships I have now with freshmen and sophomores. I am friends with a couple sophomores in yearbook as well: Lilly Stahlman, Elizabeth Swope. Another one of my really good friends in that class that I made through being a part of the yearbook staff was Madalyn Miller.”

Q: What are your other interests besides yearbook?

A: “I am a part of Key Club, the Kiwanis club. Basically what we do is a lot of volunteer work out of the school. We have the Hollidaysburg Halloween parade. We’ll have our own float with the Altoona Kiwanis Club. It’s like their own club outside of the school. And we’ll pass out canned goods. We’ll collect canned goods, and it will collect money. I also do community service with the school. I go back to my elementary school for three periods. I do community service there. I also have a job. I work at Chuck E Cheese. I try to do a lot on the side, and I also do a lot of school as well.”

Q: Have you ever made an error or silly mistake while working on your book? If so, what were they?

A: ”I have made a lot of mistakes, especially with regards to rushing to get those deadlines done. For example, I had a couple of pictures that were very, very blurry, and I didn’t realize it until I actually submitted my spread from the final draft. The same thing also happened a couple weeks ago. It happened like submitting another page. I didn’t realize the pictures were blurry until the page was already submitted. Luckily, it wasn’t finalized, so I was able to save it. There’s also a couple times as well where I spelled things wrong, and it didn’t get checked and done marking it and I’d already submitted the page.”

Q: What would you say to someone who is considering joining the yearbook staff?

A: “I would probably say, take the decision into consideration because being a part of something like yearbook or even Mountain Echo can be really fun. It can be very rewarding. There’s a lot of different opportunities. But also, there is a lot of time that you have to be able to do it, and you have to be able to manage your time. You have to be able to be organized. And I feel like those two things really tie in with it because it is a lot of work. It’s more than just doing parties and writing a couple words down on the page. You have to go out, you have to take pictures, you have to have writing skills for it. You have to be able to be clever, be able to come up with stuff. So for me, I really would just say take the decision to make with it into consideration because it is a lot of work at the end of the day.”

Q: Why do you think yearbook is important?

A: “I feel like yearbook is important because we do a lot with our school; we’re always at different events. Whether it’s a club meeting or it’s a sporting event, we’re always out taking pictures. We’re always out trying to get the best shots, the best moments. We’re trying to capture that all and put it into one book. And I feel like it’s important because if we didn’t have that, what would we have to look back on in the next couple years from our school? What would we have to see? And for me, I feel like it’s really important because, especially for this year’s seniors, when they graduate, they want to look at a book that represents their senior year. And especially from now, for the younger grades, and they want to look at a book that represents just the year in general. So I feel like, for me, that’s really why yearbook is important.”

Q: If you could change one thing about yearbook, what would it be?

A: “One thing I’d probably change about yearbook would probably be our deadlines. I feel like our deadlines are very close and compact with each other, and I feel like it’s really hard with other stuff that I have, and especially other staff members might have going on as well. And I feel like you always have to have it done at a certain time, but it would be interesting to be able to have  a week and a half at least to work on our pages. Instead of having a first draft, a second draft, and a third draft. Have a first draft, and then a final draft, making it a little bit easier for us, so we don’t feel like we’re being rushed all the time.”