Every individual at this school would be able to testify on my behalf when I say that establishing anything new is always going to be a learning process. At many different points last year, students and staff had their limits tested and were forced to push themselves in order to make it to the end of a long first year.
Through the trials we found success, grew, learned and moved forward. Just as Southwest was constantly working out kinks, so was our newspaper staff.
Our school has started a new year, the only difference is that, this time, we know a little bit more about what to expect. Last year, the newspaper staff was faced with the same challenges that the rest of Southwest was faced with, just on a bit smaller scale. We not only tried to create a publication that we could be proud of, but we also tried to merge the ideas and traditions of two journalism programs. And I would be lying if I said disagreements and negotiations didn’t ensue, but we found a way through it just like the rest of the student body. Now that we are functioning as one body, we are working to represent what Southwest has become over the last year, which is much more than the random kids from different schools that we started out as.
This year, we are starting clean. Just like Southwest, we have lost some staff members and gained new ones, but we have come out of the dust with rekindled vigor, ready to make the most of the cards that we have been dealt. This year, we understand what it is going to take to go to press each month and because of our experience, our expectations are growing. Our goal is to deliver a paper that shows how our staff has grown and, in turn, how our school has grown.
The newspaper staff has come into our own and created a paper that truly highlights what we are capable of. I believe that, as a school, every student who is here wants to be here and this year we are going to come into our own as well.