Every year, students ask the same questions. What class should I take next year? How can I look more appealing to colleges? What are some fun activities where I can also meet people?
Almost nothing checks off all these boxes, but our school’s newspaper does. I’ve been a writer for Common Sense since 2016, and it has been one of the greatest additions to my high school career. Here are just a few of the many reasons you should join our staff.
It’s fun – It may not seem like writing articles and laying out pages is a blast, but the people you’ll meet are incredibly colorful and help you along the way. You’ll meet really motivated and talented individuals who offer new perspectives on school (and life) and who are deeply passionate about the work they do for the school. Plus, it allows you to excel at what you want. If you love covering sports, newspaper lets you do that. And nothing is as exciting as seeing the final product of the paper circulating around school with your very own contributions set in ink for all of time.
It looks great for colleges – Few things are as impressive to higher-level institutions as being an editor on a newspaper. It shows not only that you are academically strong enough to advance on the staff, but also that you can be trusted with the responsibility to run an entire page. It’s another extracurricular that you can add to your resume that also happens during school, thus minimizing after-school commitments to only two days every 10 (for editors).
The class itself is enjoyable – There’s nothing tricky about the class; if you complete your work on time, you are almost guaranteed an A. Additionally, the class is weighted, which is fairly uncommon for electives courses. For students who choose to take the class starting in the early half of their tenure in high school, it gives them the chance to boost your GPA while also climbing the ranks of the staff. And while much of the class periods are dedicated to research and dissecting previous issues, it is also generally stress-free, and much of the actual article-writing can be done at home.
It teaches you the importance of reporting – In times as turbulent as these, when the integrity of the press is being challenged left and right, you’ll gain a greater respect for how important it is to have a strong, free and honest press to act as a check and provide new perspectives. When you finish Journalism A (the one-semester prerequisite to taking newspaper), you will be proud to be part of a vital and instrumental institution, especially one that is so locally respected.
If you aren’t quite set on the classes you’ve already signed up for, it’s never too late to switch! A newspaper is only as good as those who write for it, and the more talent and passion incoming students possess will make the paper strong for its 50th volume in the next few years.
