There are a few things everyone tells you when you join a student newspaper: there's a lot of deadlines, be prepared to write, and don't be afraid to interview people. Student newspapers have a reputation for being ‘immature reporting’ or ‘dorky.’ Sure, not everyone reads them and sure, I spend a pretty pathetic amount of time in that office, but I expected that, that's what everyone told me. There's a lot that I've learned from this experience that no one ever told me to expect.

I never expected to fall so deeply in love with writing. I had always felt a connection to writing, but if anything, I was afraid the constant flow of writing would turn it into a chore, or that I would be burned out. I never thought I would work to write for even more publications, that I would write poetry on the side, that I would journal. I expected to like it for a year, tolerate it for another, and loathe it by the end. I've become obsessed with it. I write everyday, I write poetry, I wrote prose, I write editorials. I have journals and work books full of prompts. Every publication I can attach myself to, both in school and out, I do, not just for the sake of publicity, but for the opportunity to write.

I never expected to find a third parent in my school. My advisor listens to everything we say, she knows everything about us. She doesn't judge us for being us, she listens to what we have to say and tries to help us. She's hard on us though, and when you disappoint her you feel like the absolute worst kind of person. She makes us the best writers and people we can be, and pushes us to excel in everything we do.

The biggest thing I've experienced, is the feeling of belonging and everything just falling into place. My little family has a deeper connection than the one we have in room 118. I know for a fact that if I ever need someone to tell me everything will be ok I can cry about it to Jamie and Kelly. If I ever need someone to make me laugh when deadline stress is too much I can always turn to Josh and Nate. Whenever I need to run an outfit past someone or need an opinion on lipstick colors, Gracie and Ellen are always there. To everyone else reading this article, these people are just names, ideas of people that they don't actually know. To me, these people are my family. We fight, we cry, we laugh, but we all care about each other so much, and that's what makes not only our paper the best it can be, but it makes each other the best we can be.

To answer the question I get all the time, no, I didn't think I was going to be as impacted by the paper as I was, and I wouldn't change anything about my experiences on it.

Funny to think I almost took oceanography instead.