Going into Freshman year, I definitely did not expect to dedicate lots of my time to writing articles for the school newspaper. I was lucky to have Ms. Johnson for English freshman year and had recently gotten into photography. I heard about a newspaper club being kicked off by Ms. Johnson and the previous president Sofia Mercier, so I decided to go to the first couple of meetings and try it out. I started out mainly in the Sports and “Oh Snap” column with photos of sports and school events. I hadn’t really thought about writing because I didn’t think it was “my thing”. Eventually, I started to write more and more. At first, just small blurbs for things like Dig Pink, Pep Rally, and clubs. My first real piece that kicked things off was an interview with two members of the track team. After writing that article, I realized maybe writing could be “my thing”.
What I learned, and hope many others can too, is that writing may be restrictive and sometimes boring in an English class, but when you are allowed to write creatively, it can be so incredibly fun. Writing for the Summer Street Times for the past four years has given me a creative outlet to not only write about topics I am interested in but also explore topics I never would have learned about otherwise. In the 30+ articles I’ve written, I’ve covered sports, politics, natural disasters, music, school and town events, food, lifestyle trends, and movies. The great part about a school newspaper is its all about student voice. It’s not always about what readers want to see, but about what students want to say. Each meeting was great because everyone came with different ideas and perspectives that they were passionate about and willing to share.
For my senior year, I had the privilege of becoming the President and Editor in Chief of the club. This year we have accomplished so much as a club. We have gotten many new members who have brought wonderful ideas and perspectives to the club. My favorite thing about newspaper is honestly the diversity of our members. We have students from different grades with different interests. As high school can be a very divisive environment with sports, classes, and cliques, newspaper offers opportunities for truly anyone and everyone. As the President of the club, it is amazing to read and review articles that I can tell were written out of genuine interest and passion.
This fall when I start school at the University of Delaware, one of my first stops will be to find the student newspaper. While it won’t be the same as the Summer Street Times, I am excited to continue writing and photography for a school newspaper. I also want to thank Ms. Johnson who has been an amazing mentor and has helped me grow so much creatively. Next I want to thank Kevin Collins who has been an amazing and vice president with an amazing work ethic, he will be president next year and I am so excited to see the club grow under him. My advice to every student is to push yourself out of your comfort zone, try something that isn’t “your thing”, because it may very well become one of your favorite things.
