Four long school years ago, I first stepped foot inside Niles North. I had come from a small school whose graduating class amassed just over 50 people and whose every corner I had thoroughly explored in my 11+ years there. Now, my grade was ten times the size of my old one, and the school felt about a hundred times bigger.
The first semester was tough, for sure. I tried out various clubs and classes and sports, hoping to carve out my personal, little nook which I could fit into. It took a couple of years for me to figure out who exactly I was. By then, most of those initial avenues of adventure had given way to better, more personalized ones. My hobbies, my priorities, the world around me and whom I chose to share it with—all of those things shifted and expanded.
And yet, one of the few constants in my life, from the very first day of school in August 2022 and up until my last day in May 2026 (wow, it’s been a while!), has been North Star News (NSN).
To be entirely frank, I first chose to take the class sort of by chance. When choosing courses pre-freshman year, I vaguely knew that I enjoyed the humanities, and almost blindly chose journalism over broadcast, law, creative writing, or a history class.
Since that first day of school, I’ve written dozens and dozens of stories for the class. I’ve had the privilege of meeting people I never thought I would, both staff and students, for interviews. I’ve detailed my innermost thoughts on music and movies and sports that had previously existed only in faraway recesses of my mind. I’ve learned, after countless hours of editing documents like the one on which I’m writing right this second, that I actually enjoy writing. That, as someone who is, admittedly, not all that artistic, writing allows me to express myself in ways I didn’t know were possible.
On a more personal note, each semester of high school, our class would travel to a different city for the JEA-NSPA National Journalism Conventions. I didn’t attend all the trips, but was lucky enough to be a part of five—to St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Nashville. During those trips, we would hear from notable speakers and educators from around the country, each teaching us about a different aspect of being a high school journalist.
On these trips is when I was able to most keenly experience the aspect of NSN that I most cherish and will never, not in a million years, forget about: our community. Entirely by accident, my joining the class freshman year coincided with the joinings of other terrific people my age, with several more adding on the following year. For us, it was the convention trips, more-so even than the class itself, that brought us together.
On each trip, made up of a different combination of the people I just mentioned, we would meet, mingle, and get to know each other. We would traverse the city around us, calling it home, if only for a few days. We would visit city markets and the hotel gym and shop at cool stores and try incredible food. And we would do it all alongside each other, as one collective whole.
My favorite was, by far, the Boston trip. I remember waking up at just about the crack of dawn with Sam, swimming in our marvelous hotel’s pool that overlooked the rest of the city, and then getting breakfast at an excellent, tiny cafe nearby. I remember walking with Emily around the city and discovering various novelties: a picturesque peninsula-park on the river; hungry pigeons to feed; a gorgeous, rustic church to peer into. I remember dining at a hole-in-the-wall Italian place owned by a warm, little Italian grandma, with Lolah, Emily, and Annie, and then sprinting back to the convention center, because Ms. Ordoñez needed to see us, ASAP.
Those trips shaped me as a person, profoundly. Of course, their informational sessions taught me very valuable journalistic skills which I have practiced ever since. But, everything else we did on them taught me the kinds of things that all those inspirational YouTubers always complain about never having learned at school.
They taught me how to travel and explore foreign places. They taught me independence, prudence, and integrity. They showed me corners of the country I’d probably never otherwise see. And they allowed me moments of friendship and of the most authentic, personal, benign human connection. When you’re in a fantastic, faraway city with friends, no time limit or agenda, and it’s all happening amidst “the prime of your youth,” to quote Stand By Me, that’s something beyond special. And I can’t believe I was able to experience it through NSN.
I’d like to extend a gigantic thank you to Ms. Ordoñez and Mr. Mormolstein for leading the class across my four years in it; you guys are the reason it was all possible in the first place. Thank you, just as much, to all my peers whose presence allowed the whole thing to come alive. I’ll miss you guys so much more than you can imagine, honestly.
What a ride it’s been. I wish, especially after four years of writing all these stories, that I had the words in me to convey just how grateful I am for all of it. I’ll never forget about you, NSN.
Sincerely,
Yoni
