By Kimi Danaei
Executive Theme Editor
Somehow, the time has come to write my senior goodbye. These past four years have gone by so quickly, and I am extremely grateful that I can dedicate much of my growth and development to the journalism program.
Four years ago, I would never have thought that I would take so much away from a class, but now I can see that my pessimistic thinking was wrong. I have gained so many amazing friends and have learned so much from this program.
Journalism has helped me get out of my comfort zone: I’ve created page designs I never would have thought of doing before and interviewed people I otherwise would have not talked to. From eavesdropping on some interesting conversations, when I wasn’t working on a page, of course, to short walks around the campus and conversations with friends, I am definitely leaving with great memories. I will always remember the birthday when my friends surprised me with gifts and birthday wishes, which made me feel so special and made my otherwise boring day great.
It’s sad that my last year in La Vista consisted of Zoom calls, long texts and a computer sitting in my room instead of at the back of room 101, but this makes me even more thankful for the hours I spent after school in class with the La Vista staff. As cheesy as it sounds, it was always super nice to have a place on campus that was familiar and filled with people that, like myself, made up a larger team.
Don’t get me wrong; La Vista came with its fair share of stress and anxiety, from meeting fast-paced deadlines to getting people to respond for interviews. Production was definitely always an interesting event. However, the feeling of completing a page or getting a compliment from Mr. McAvin made the challenges and edits less intimidating over the months.
I am so lucky to have been able to have a role on La Vista that gives so much freedom and ability to be creative. As a Theme editor, I have designed and created pages that are not only meaningful to me, but also cover important topics that should be addressed more often. Having a place to write about these issues has been an opportunity I will not take for granted. I am satisfied knowing that I have been able to use my time in high school to inform myself and others (those that actually read the paper at least).
La Vista has also allowed me to improve my writing skills so much in these past four years. Hopefully, one day I’ll have my commas down, but for now I am extremely proud of the quick and great improvements I have been able to make with the help of journalism. Not to mention, I am now able to write emails without feeling like I need them to be checked (thanks for always being there to help me with that, though, Penelope).
All in all, I am grateful my freshman self decided to take the intro to journalism class because besides learning important lessons, I enjoyed having a period in the day that I could look forward to. Joining La Vista and being able to slowly make my way up in the program has been extremely rewarding. It is even more rewarding, though, to look back on the various articles I have written and the topics I covered in the past four years.
Besides leaving La Vista with some new useful skills, I am leaving with amazing memories that will undoubtedly always make up a big part of my overall high school experience.
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