Four years is a strangely specific amount of time. It’s long enough to become an entirely different person, but short enough that it still feels like it disappeared almost as soon as it started.
When I started high school, I was a very quiet and reserved person. I had good friends, but outside of my classes I was not really involved in anything. I remember going straight home after school and spending all afternoon in my room doing nothing. For a lot of freshman year I felt as if I was watching everything happen around me instead of actually participating in it.
Joining The Truckee Times and co-founding TNT News as well as Broadcasting Club when I was a sophomore completely shifted the way I saw both the school and myself. What started as learning how to interview people or edit footage turned into a whole plethora of projects, friendships, and a new way of thinking about the world. It introduced me to people I never would have met otherwise and gave me a stronger sense of connection to the place and people around me.
Being involved in something means showing up for it, even when it is inconvenient or it is frustrating or you feel unprepared. There have been countless times when audio files got corrupted, footage was lost, interview lighting was faulty, all things that make getting the task done difficult, but the moments that mattered most to me were rarely the easiest ones.
That being said, school makes it very easy to be hard on yourself. There is always another assignment, another expectation, another comparison. For better or worse, high school does not always prioritize happiness. Because of that, I think it is important to protect the parts of your life that do. Go on a hike, spend time with friends, keep hobbies, and let yourself exist outside of achievement.
High school, at least to me, has felt a little like trying to hold onto water. Everything keeps moving forward whether you are ready or not. Time escapes constantly, and there is no way to fully grasp every important moment while you are living it. The point of these four years is not to preserve every second perfectly, but to let each of the fleeting moments build on one another.
I know moving forward to new places and people the nature of time probably won’t change. But I think that’s why it’s important to take a moment and reflect. If I could select one singular most meaningful thing that I got to experience while in high school, it would have been journalism. What I have achieved and grown from through being a part of The Truckee Times while here at Truckee High is something irreplaceable.
Thank you Truckee Times.
