Q: When and why did you join yearbook? 

A: I joined yearbook my sophomore year. I took 21st Century Journalism my freshman year. I joined because I sort of went all through middle school watching my sister do yearbook and watching her put in the work and how much she grew from it. I remember vividly when she was working on the book and she was editor-in-chief; she would have to stay after school, but she would have to pick me up from Aubry Bend, so she would take me here and I would sit as they were all working on the yearbook for, like, two hours. I would sit on that beanbag, and I would just watch.

Q: What made you want to apply for an editor position?

A: Watching my sister grow sort of motivated me to also have an editor position. I think I really wanted to be the type of leader that people could look up to and enjoy, but also get everything done to the best of my ability. I really wanted to make my own book and have my own ideas come to life and not have people boss me around. 

Q: What are some of your responsibilities in making the yearbook? 

A: This year, I definitely had more responsibilities than last year. I designed the whole book, picked the colors, all the design elements. I also was in charge of managing the whole class, which was definitely a different feeling. I would set deadlines for everyone else, put people into groups where I think they would fit best and give people pages that I think they would do well on. Then this year, I was also in charge of sending all the pages, which was so scary, because once it’s sent, it’s just done. I had no idea that I would be doing that this year, so it was definitely something to get used to, but I had a lot of help.

Q: What does the process of making a spread page look like? 

A: It’s a lot of interviewing and planning. First, I make a page plan, and I plan what I want to be on the page, and I usually think of what people I’m going to use, hopefully people that weren’t already used in the book somewhere else. Typically people that are super involved in that sport or class or activity or whatever it’s for. Then, I start with the story. I just pick people, write questions for that, get my interviews, write the story and then I work on the side packs, which are super different. They can need photos, like cutouts, or graphics. So that’s different from the story, obviously. And then I pick pictures and write captions for those and get interviews for those captions as well.

Q: What was challenging about making the yearbook?

A: I’m nervous for distribution day. Because, personally, [the yearbook] took me a lot of time, and I love it, but I care a lot about what other people think about it. So, I think the most challenging thing is just feeling the pressure of whether other people are going to like it or not. 

Q: What’s your favorite part of yearbook? 

A: My favorite part of the yearbook is all the great people I got to meet. I made a lot of friends, especially people that I wouldn’t usually talk to outside of class, and I think we’re such a close knit group as a class.