When I was in elementary school, I couldn’t wait to be in middle school. When I was in middle school, I couldn’t wait to be in high school. When I was finally in high school, I couldn’t wait for the four years to be over. But now that it’s actually here, bittersweet is an understatement.

I never really understood when boomers tell you to enjoy your high school years. “It will be over before you know it,” they’d tell you. But let me tell you, kids, as an upcoming boomer, enjoy your days in high school!! It all ends too quickly. It seems like just yesterday, I was stressing about who to sit with at lunch on my first day of freshman year.

While I’ve shared many memorable moments at SHS, it is without a doubt that The Journal played the biggest part. To be frank, I’ve thought about quitting The Journal during my first AND second year because of how rigorous the class is. Yes, it is not an honors class, but the responsibilities for the position you hold, whether as a reporter, an editor or a leader, are not little.

So what made me stick around for a third year? The people.

When I walk into Room 400, comfort and smiles welcome me. No matter how rough our issue of the month is, we stick through it together, and there’s reward and solace in that persistence.

I will miss our long production nights where we shared dinners. I will miss seeing people wash windows after getting caught saying a bad word by Mr. K. I will miss the musty air of Wingstop and Jaggers filling up the lab room. I will miss the nights when Kenzie, Ava and I would stay at school until 9 p.m., trying to send our pages.

It’s been a privilege to spend my high school years at SHS. I owe many gratitudes to my friends, teachers, the Journal staff and, most importantly, Mr. K, for being the glue of The Journal.