My first day in journalism was an interesting day full of new experiences. It was my first day of school at Air Academy and I did not know a single person in the class at the time, but the environment of the class made it easy to make friends quickly.

Journalism is a class like no other; the sense of community is strong and you know that there will always be someone that you can ask for help or talk to if you need a good conversation. You never feel alone in this class.

The biggest piece of advice that I could give to incoming journalists is to be wary of the deadlines. Only writing an article every two weeks may give you the illusion that you have plenty of time to write, but scheduling interviews, editor checkpoints, and unforeseen circumstances can make the two weeks feel a lot shorter. This becomes even more crucial as you enter the months of frequent snow days.

The class is always a fun place to be though, with pancake days the class after publications and fun learning activities like show and tell. Even on workdays, there is constant chatter and laughter that gives the classroom a warm feeling.

Senior journalist Lana Meyer said, “I was always excited to walk into the class and sit with my friends. We always had fun hanging out and helping each other.”

One of my favorite memories from this year was our field trip to the Independent.

To get there we carpooled with a group of friends–which is a lot more fun than taking a bus to a field trip. We were able to tour the local newspaper and learn about how they operate on a day-to-day basis. We also got to ask many people about their jobs and had an intensive question and answer session with professional journalists. This helped shine insight on the day-to-day operations of a real newspaper publication.

Afterward, we all met at Noodles and Company and got to eat together as a class, and practice our food critic skills, before returning to school. It was a memorable experience that combined a great day of learning about the world of journalism with having a fun bonding experience with friends.

Senior journalist Ruth Evilsizer said, “I loved when we all went to the Independent and got to see how the pros produced their newspapers! I thought that it was even more fun getting to go to lunch with the whole class afterward because I felt that it really brought us together, especially with how cliquey high school can get.”

Unfortunately, we were unable to finish the school year in person and finish off this great year, but at least we have been able to continue writing articles, and we all continue to keep in touch. Good luck to all of those who want to take journalism (recommended) and have a great time while you are in it!