I didn’t always think I’d become a journalist.
When I was eight, I used to have the CPU play a game of FIFA, turn the volume all the way down, and try my best to recreate the sportscast. At the time, I didn’t know journalism was connected to sportscasting. I just knew I loved sports.
I kept doing the same thing through middle school. I’m not afraid to admit it: I was terrible at sportscasting. Like, really bad. I probably miscalled players’ names half the time, and all I knew was to scream after a goal was scored. (My parents did get annoyed after a while.) But I didn’t care. I knew I wanted to be involved with sports somehow. I just didn’t know how to get there.
Eventually, I realized that to get to sports journalism, I had to start with regular journalism. So, I picked the Journalism elective in freshman year. I thought it would be a good start. In that class, I learned about interviews, writing, and some ethics. But it wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t learn how to become a sports journalist.
In my sophomore year, I joined the newspaper. My first article was a pizza review. In my defense, I was a shy 15-year-old kid. Not in a “I sit in the back and don’t talk” way, but in a “please don’t make me talk to someone I don’t know” way. I did some interviews during boot camp, but they were really awkward and terrifying. The writing part was fine. Talking to people? Yeah, no.
I quickly learned that journalism doesn’t wait for you to be comfortable talking with people. If you want to write the story, you have to go and get the quotes. You have to lock in and pull through. Otherwise, you have no story to write.
In between my awkward attempts to record interviews and reading questions and notes in my reporter’s notebook that looked like a five-year-old wrote them, I started getting the hang of it. I learned how to have conversations. How to listen, something I still struggle with now, because I think Instagram Reels lowered my attention span. How to not panic when someone gives a one-word answer.
I slowly started to realize that journalism wasn’t just about writing.
Finally, we get to August 2024, my senior year. At this point, I wasn’t just doing interviews. I was hosting podcasts, covering important games for our community, and talking to people I never thought I’d be confident enough to talk to. I still can’t believe I went from writing reviews to writing about the school board.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to write inside jokes, but here we go. As sophomore Clark Kerkstra would put it, the WSSD community spearheaded public outcry towards the school board, which faced backlash from an abundance of electric parents. No one triumphed. Probably one of my favorite articles I’ve written.
I didn’t expect high school to help me become a conversationalist. But it did. And don’t get me wrong, I’m still terrible at explaining things. Every person I chased down for an interview, every story I wrote, every player I had to rush in a postgame interview taught me how to have those conversations.
No, I’m not the greatest sports journalist alive (yet). But I’ve come a long way from yelling “GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!” from my bedroom.
If this is just the beginning, I have a lot of conversations to go. And I’m fine with that.
The final part of my column will be thanking people because all of this wouldn’t be possible without each and every one of them. (Inspired by one of KPs most esteemed alumni, Joe Lister.)
Evelynn Lin: Thank you for this year of ‘journalisming.’ It’s been a fun ride.
Matthew Ramirez: Thanks for the website and the photos. Keep taking pictures. (The newspaper lowkey needs them.)
Kaitlyn Ho: Thank you for catching every mistake in the newspaper. My eyes could never.
Isaac “Cheetah” Lothrop: Thanks for the fun days, even if you distracted me a bit from what I was doing… every day.
Clark Kerkstra: I hope your future spearheads into something great. Or if not something great, then let’s hope for some public outcry.
Every editor on the editorial board: Thank you for being an amazing team.
Every reporter and contributor: OH. MY. GOD. Keep going. You’re ALL rockstars. Thanks for taking on challenging stories I didn’t want to write!
Mr. Andrew Benzing, Mrs. Andrea LaPira, Dr. Greg Hilden: Thank you for supporting us as a team. You’ve been wonderful.
Finally, Ms. Kate Plows: I don’t even know where to begin. Everything I do now comes from you. Ever since the day I started your Visual Communications class, I have grown to learn everything I needed to know about journalism. KP, you are the rockstar we all needed. Hang in there, the yearbook will cook on time and it will be great! Thank you so much for everything. I would also like to thank you for keeping a soccer ball in the media lab—even though it was confiscated a couple of times.
