At the beginning of my senior year I had high expectations for what was to come and I wanted to make the most of my last year in high school. One of my high hopes was that I could make lasting friendships with my classmates, especially those that would be moving away for college.

Along with building friendship I wanted to be as involved with school activities and clubs as possible. So, I did academic decathlon for the second year in a row and, of course, decided to give journalism another shot.

I would have to say that my favorite part about being in the journalism class is Mr. (Greg) Stobbe. I had him as a freshman in English honors and knew that I could not go a whole year without having him as a teacher again. After just one year in his publications class I was able to see my writing improve greatly and the more I wrote, the easier it became.

My junior year I took a break from writing for the newspaper mainly due to my full school schedule and a sport schedule that took up all my extra time. But, this year I have returned and I am so glad I did. Mrs. (Molly) Sargent?s senior English class requires a lot of in class essay writing and I would honestly have been lost without my previous training.

The decision to take the class this year paid off greatly because our online paper won one of the most prestigious awards in school history. We were awarded as one of the top three high school papers in the country. Winning that award made me so proud to be a student writing for the paper because all our efforts and time spent paid off.

I would strongly encourage anyone who is debating whether or not to take journalism to go for it because the only thing to loose is some bad writing habits. Mr. Stobbe is such an amazing teacher, he has taught me so much about books, writing and life in general. I feel so blessed to have known him for these past four years and I know I will miss him greatly.