Out of all the goodbyes I have had to say in my life, the one to News Journalism and its staff is one of the hardest.

I am nowhere near the same person I was 4 years ago. I’ve grown, I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone, I’ve made friends and a chosen family, and most of all I learned to love myself and the world around me. News taught me to appreciate everyone, no matter our differences, and how to love myself in the process. After my past of moving from town to town and state to state, I lost myself in fear of even unpacking and making connections because I knew it wouldn’t last. When I moved to this school, that fell through pretty quickly when I joined the yearbook staff Junior year. While I was trying not to make connections, our yearbook staff accepted me into their family and we constantly worked together and celebrated our accomplishments. I lived and I learned, and continued doing that this year when I switched staffs and joined a new family.

I made friends with people I never thought I would, and the differences between each of us help us understand others. Chris has taught me how to be lighthearted and kind, Rebecca has taught me how to be more organized, Haley has taught me how to have a better work drive, Keto taught me how to accept compliments, Brookelyn has taught me appreciation (and about Harry Styles) through all of her hard work on our Friday Flash, Doc has taught me a lot about movies and how to still have fun, Gwen taught me how to love others, and Mrs. B taught me how to give other people a voice.

I don’t plan on staying a journalist in the future, but this class taught me about Activism and what I can do to help others when they don’t have a voice to use themselves. A quote I live by from Mrs. B is “Everyone’s story deserves to be told.” This quote has not only helped me write all of my stories, but also understand that I don’t have to bottle things up, and I can interview and write about things such as inequality and eating disorders.  I can handle things that are hard to talk about and help people that don’t have a voice to talk about their struggles and let them speak their truth.

I have no words to talk about how appreciative I am of this class and the entire staff. They taught me to live instead of just survive, and I am forever grateful. I do have a million things I could say about each and every person, and I love each of them. At the end of it all, I still have to say goodbye to them and keep everything they have taught me in my life. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”- A.A. Milne.