Since moving to Apex in 2021, I have been enrolled in newspaper. It was always a constant in my schedule, no doubt at some point in the day I would be in that classroom. At first it came from a passion for journalism, but it quickly became so much more. 

I moved just before my sophomore year and joined the school fresh out of quarantine knowing nobody at all. Freshman year I had taken an Introduction to Journalism class at my old high school and found I had loved to write. I always loved writing in any capacity, but the state of the world drove me to care about how people received their news and wanting to contribute to the brewing storm of publications covering the mess of the world. In that class I fell in love with journalism and was elated to find out Apex had a newspaper I could join. 

In that semester in Newspaper, I met one of my best friends, Kate. We clicked instantly, and I am so grateful for the class for bringing us together. For over a year we worked on every article together, no matter the subject of what it was. It was an unspoken rule that we came together. (For our final that year, we were even handed one exam scenario, not two.)

Junior year, Newspaper served as a refuge. I was taking difficult classes all around, but in between I always knew I would have Newspaper as a lighter break in my schedule. The friends I had made turned family, and it gave me the space to relax and laugh through all my stress. It was so infectious it brought in people who weren’t in the class who had time to just sit and hang out with us. The work was always done, but there was so much more to it. 

Even in my senior year, I made time for Newspaper. Taking it until now, my final high school semester has been a privilege. I have loved this class and the people in it for so long, and I hope that continues with underclassmen just coming in. I would not have given this experience up for anything. Thank you Mrs. Doud and Mrs. McGee for continuing this class that has done so much for me. And thank you to Legacy and the Legacy staff through the years. I could not have asked for a better high school experience, and I owe so much of it to you.