When I stepped into the News Room for the first time, I was not expecting to be the only senior in a class of under 15 students, all of whom were News newbies. Spending the year with sophomores and juniors has made my News Journalism experience unique and inspiring. This was just the beginning of every little expectation I had flying out the window. I learned that any expectations you have walking into News Journalism will be tested and surpassed by the time the end of the year comes around.

I knew from frequently being the quietest person in any room that News would challenge me, but I did not expect that for how much it challenged me, how much more I would grow from each interview or video story.

I knew stepping outside of my comfort zone would allow me to learn new things about our school and the people in it, but I did not expect how much I would enjoy sharing the things I learned with others through my stories.

I knew I wanted to write about stories many people did not know about, but I did not expect to like branching out to try other formats as well.

I knew I enjoyed writing and would learn how to write like a journalist, but I did not expect to take with me after high school many more skills in photography, interviewing, and meeting deadlines.

These expectations and more would not have been broken without the staff and Mrs. Basinger there to bring unlimited energy, ideas, and support throughout the year. I was definitely not expecting to hear so many weekend stories and laugh so much from this News staff, but I am grateful to have been a part of this staff as we learned together how to be journalists.

Sometime during the year, I stopped trying to figure out how a class period would go because there was no way to predict that with how animated the staff became wanting to share what was going on that was good. The positivity that started every day with Good News and flowed through the rest of each day was unmatchable. If I learned anything from these people this year, it is how to look on the bright side of anything and everything.

The News Room is a place to expand your horizons no matter what prior experience you bring with you. Everyone consistently brought their own spark that added to the collaborative environment and contributed to creating the stories you see on this site.

As my expectations for what I thought my Journalism experience was going to be like were being exceeded or changed, I learned how important open-mindedness is as you go into a story. You never know how much you can discover with honest, sincere curiosity until you start asking the questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

Just as experiences can be something you were not expecting, stories can surprise you, too. Because people are at the heart of every news story and people will surprise you. And maybe the person who surprises you the most is you.