I remember it like it was yesterday. Walking down the dusty halls of my elementary school as I finished up my last day of fifth grade, greeting all of my friends, signing off for one last time before middle school. I remember this because there was one teacher who came around and asked all of the graduating students what they wanted to be when they grew up. While most students just gave an answer that they probably forgot about 10 minutes after they asked the question, I said that I wanted to be a sports reporter or journalist. Common Sense allowed me to fulfill that dream and more.
When I first arrived at this school for my freshman year, I didn’t even know that we had a school newspaper. Therefore, I unfortunately didn’t sign up for the class right away, which is one of my biggest regrets about high school. The atmosphere that this class provides is second to none with every single member of this team fighting to put out the best possible product for the Wootton community. I had never taken a student-run class before newspaper and it changed my whole perspective. It gave all of us a new sense of responsibility that we hadn’t felt through Montgomery County education and I really enjoyed it.
Common Sense brought memories that I will cherish and take with me throughout my college years. Learning to use Adobe software for the first time was definitely one that stuck out among the rest. Everything was so technical and new that I was blown away with all the possibilities that came with becoming an editor. Skipping practices to participate in long press days was also a highlight of my high school career as it felt like I was working hard to make something beautiful for our community and the students of this school.
Common Sense also cleared the vision for what I wanted to study in college. After taking courses such as AP Literature and AP Language, I knew that I wanted to do something related to writing, but I wasn’t quite sure what. Then, I thought back to that last day of fifth grade and all the time I’ve spent as a member of Common Sense and it became clearer. Journalism. Specifically sports journalism. A path that will allow me to not only continue writing about things that I love and follow on a daily basis, but also continue to connect with others and capture the joy that comes along with conducting interviews with members of the community.
Being a member of Common Sense has allowed me to create friendships that I will also cherish for the rest of my life and It gave me the opportunity to meet people that I may have never talked to if it wasn’t for this class. I can’t say enough how much of an impact our teacher, Evva Starr has played in my growth and development as a writer and how much of a role she has played in this journey I’ve taken as a high school journalist. Thank you Common Sense.
