Newspaper was easily the single most impactful part of my high school experience.

My time in the class allowed me to realize that not only was journalism what I wanted to do in high school, but for my career onwards.

When I signed up for journalism my freshman year, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting myself into.

I had a friend that was on the staff in previous years that encouraged me to take the class because of my passion for writing.

My first semester in journalism was eye-opening.

Because it was “Journalism I,” the majority of the class was learning HOW to write a news story as opposed to actually writing them for the paper.

Not only did this make me understand that there is so much more to the journalistic process than I had once thought, but it also allowed me to hone my natural writing skills into a completely new style of writing, which was equally exciting as it was intimidating.

Towards the end of the first semester, I was finally given an opportunity to write for the actual newspaper.

This is where I decided that journalism was more than just an elective: it was a passion and legitimate career path.

Coming up with story ideas, interviewing, researching—the entire process is rewarding and fun. Connecting with others and writing about their experiences is enthralling.

At times my motivation wavered, as it typically does for most high schoolers, but whenever I would finish a story I would be reminded of the satisfaction that it gives—the feeling of sometimes weeks of writing being finished is unmatched.

Also, the class helped me become more outgoing and social in general. I made some pretty cool friends here and because I was required to interview and sell papers, my social skills increased and my anxiety when talking to adults went away.

During Covid, I realized just how much I missed being in class and working on the paper. We worked virtually but it wasn’t nearly the same.

All in all, journalism has been an awesome, unforgettable experience. My classmates helped make this class my favorite and the teacher, Mr. Melching helped me realize news writing is my passion