My senior year on the newspaper staff was full of memories. I was able to write stories, take photos, design newspaper pages, and even go to New York City. My senior year was also my very first year on the newspaper staff. 

I found this community to be incredibly open to new people and new ideas. I only knew a couple people on the staff going into the class, and I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to find my footing or become part of the community. Many of the people in the class had joined the newspaper in their sophomore year, and lots were also in the intro class during their freshman year, so they were very comfortable with the class and the people in it. I was incredibly grateful that they were willing to collaborate and listen to me, it being my first and clearly last year in the class. I was able to become a part of this community and express myself in the class without fear.

And then it was March, the week of the CSPA convention. The trip to New York City was one of the most fun experiences of my life. It enriched me emotionally and academically, and gave me so many great memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I learned what good pizza tasted like, I learned how to survive in a big city, and I learned so many different journalistic things involving scandal reporting, photoshop, and even the constitution. I had never been on a school trip before, and never been away without my parents like that before, so the freedom was really fun. Goin out for breakfast every morning was one of my favorite memories.

I also loved learning about Adobe InDesign in Newspaper class because it was a new software that I wasn’t familiar with. I enjoyed the freedom to design a page however I wanted and to try to be creative with it (although my pages could never top Jackson’s).

Although my time with the Oracle was short, I am immensely proud of what I have accomplished and what this class has brought me. So many memories and skills would have never been experienced or learned without newspaper, and I am forever grateful.