When I first found a seat at the round table of my senior year editorial leadership class, I felt like a side character who joined far too late into a long and storied sitcom. The other editors had rapport built up from their experiences working on the school’s newspaper, they had in-jokes I would never fully get, and a workflow I would never fully slot into. As a humble podcaster without any journalistic pedigree, I felt really grateful to be able to share this space with such amazing people. I also felt very much out of my depth.

Throughout high school, I’ve bounced between many different CTE courses: the beginner design course, textiles, ceramics, audio engineering, etc. I got a lot of value out of experimenting, but ultimately found that the only constant would be podcasting. From sophomore year onward, I took podcasting every year. At first, it came from being a fan of audio dramas’ podcasts that had long, complex narratives that I admired for their immersive use of sound effects and voice acting. I tried my hand at making a fiction podcast in my first year in the class, but ultimately couldn’t bring myself to make more than one. 

 I wanted to give back to podcasts, like I owed them for all the hours of comforting voices keeping me going through the day. As time went on, the ways I could give back to podcasting evolved. I took on a kind of community-oriented role in class and helped other students produce their podcasts while somewhat neglecting my own. This came to a head in my senior year when I joined editorial leadership to act as the “Podcasting director” and jumpstart the Oracle Podcasting Network. 

Throughout this final year in high school, my simple interest in fiction podcasts has taken me much further than I ever could have reasonably imagined. I’ve pitched our class to middle schoolers and freshmen, helped create a network that sustains five unique and high quality podcasts, and also happened to take a life changing trip to New York City. After everything, I still feel the desire to bounce around. I have an emboldened respect and interest in journalism and radio, well also remaining interested in the scrappy audio drama scene. With all these perspectives and interests, I wonder how far from home I’ll be able to go next time. 

Thank you to my roommates from New York, Zay and Rei, my advisers, SB and Miller, and that stranger who said they “Loved my style” at Columbia University. I’m eternally grateful to the entire communications department for all they’ve done for me and the school at large. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be a side character.