In the spring semester of my freshman year, my English I teacher approached me with a unique question–she asked, “I have enjoyed your writing in class this year…have you considered joining our school newspaper Legacy?” I replied with something along the lines of “Oh! Well thank you–uh let me ask my mom.” Oh my goodness, freshman year me. Anyway, I ended up taking my English I teacher up on her offer and signed up for newspaper for the fall semester of my sophomore year. I was told that the writing we did in Newspaper was going to be different from our regular English papers, but I didn’t know exactly what that meant. In addition, the Newspaper room had a completely different dynamic from my English class. We were at the old campus, and I sat closest to the door (gotta love the wind chill during the freezing winters). I liked being able to express myself in a different way. Being able to come into newspaper and unwind from the chaos of the rest of my day is the best feeling. I have the opportunity to be creative, get work done, and kick back with my friends.

     I liked the class so much that I took Newspaper three more times throughout my high school experience, and each semester brought something new to the picture. We were able to help a young girl find out that her long distance boyfriend was not who he said he was, we went a semester while Ms. McGee was pregnant, and we earned several awards from the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association of Media and Journalism. I had the privilege of being the Editor-in-chief this year and had the opportunity to see Legacy flourish. In the last year we have made so many improvements to our writing. We have a more uniform style with our featured images, we have bonded together in class, kept our articles on topics close to home, and in my opinion…really did a lot to bring our school community closer together.

     I have made some of my best friends in Newspaper throughout the years, have shared several hearty laughs, and even cried looking at America’s Got Talent clips. I am so hopeful for everything that our writers will accomplish after my time here is done. I know that we will all continue to showcase our creativity and stylistic flare through our writings. I have enjoyed participating Peak Student Media and making my articles a part of my legacy.