My voice wavered when it was my turn to introduce myself.
“Hi, my name is Penelope, I’m a freshman, and I’m taking Journalism because my mom told me to.”
I was one of three freshmen in the classroom; everyone else was an upperclassman. I had no idea what I was doing in a journalism class. I just knew I liked to write. I quickly learned what a beat meeting was and how to write a lede, and soon enough, I published my first story.
In other words, if you told me three and a half years ago that I would be writing my farewell as Editor-in-Chief and on my way to attending journalism school, I’d think you were crazy. But here we are. These years have been nowhere near easy, but this paper has taught me the most important lesson: how to take a risk.
After ending my first semester of journalism, Ms. Ordoñez, the NSN advisor at the time, forwarded me an application to a free, week-long journalism camp at Eastern Illinois University. Three weeks later, I was on the way to Charleston, Ill., in tears because I’d never been away from home for so long.
I sat in a room of 20 other high school students, all strangers to me. I soon learned I was also the youngest in the room, by more than a year. I considered calling my dad to pick me up, but he told me to stick it out. I couldn’t have known the impact staying would have on me.
As the week went on and I pushed through my homesickness, I met my best friend Fernanda and found a new passion for journalism. It was the most intensive writing week of my life, and possibly one of the most important.
Taking that one risk created a domino effect in my life: seeing where each opportunity available would take me.
My sophomore year, I stepped up and became the reviews editor, just a baby step in my career on the paper. I struggled to find my voice as an editor, but I took it as a challenge. It took lots of practice.
Junior year, I took on the role of managing editor. After my trial run for the position, I remember bursting into tears in front of Ms. Ordonez and Mr. Mormolstein. I felt like I couldn’t do it, like no one would ever want to listen to me. But I couldn’t stop trying. I went on, and it was still hard, but a risk worthwhile.
Entering my fourth year of being on the news staff, I had seen three editor-in-chiefs, each with a unique leadership style: Nicole Nantz, concise and tough as nails; Liv Frey, energetic, creative, and friendly; and Aiden Stanciu, kind but always factual. These leaders inspired me to be the person that I am today, constantly pushing me to be better. I wanted to be just like them in my term as EIC.
I found out very quickly that leadership was not as easy as I thought it would be. It was hard to command a whole room of peers on my own. We lacked coverage for certain beats. It felt like a lot.
But I was already in too deep to quit when things got hard. Being editor-in-chief was a responsibility and an honor. So, we worked with what we had. I had to find my voice as a leader, which meant being less passive and more assertive. I learned how to utilize the strengths of my staff to make us a well-oiled machine. I couldn’t replicate the legacy of Nicole or Liv or Aiden, so I created my own. It was scary, but together as a staff, we were able to create something great.
The thing about risks is that once you take one, you can’t stop. It’s a high that you can’t shake. Learning this ability from the newspaper encouraged me to do everything else I ended up loving in high school: cross country, extremely challenging (but fun) classes, Dance Marathon, theatre, and even my first internship.
I still remember a mantra my theatre teacher sophomore year lived by: Do things that scare you. North Star News gave me the confidence to take these risks, and I’m excited to take even more.
