This week, I was challenged to write about my personal journey as a journalist and photographer for The Feather Online. It’s been a long two years of growth and learning, but finding my place on the team has been worth it.

As an eighth-grader, I knew close to nothing about what The Feather does or is. More than anything, I wanted to be a part of it. As any beginner on team might do, I began by sharpening my writing skills. While my teacher Greg Stobbe trained me, my ability to create an interesting article finally began to develop.

Although at first, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to learn how to write, I soon realized its vitality. This new way of writing would carry into anything I wrote, and make my writing even better than I thought capable.

About halfway through the year, Stobbe saw that I was ready to begin doing what I had wanted in the beginning: infographics. My close friend Summer Foshee, ’23, and I, with the help of graduate and Feather veteran Sam Cross, ’19, revived the program.  Now, infographics are made almost weekly for The Feather Instagram and media page.

It was only this year that I began to dabble in photography, lead by adviser  Kori James, where a new interest developed. I never thought that taking a photo could be so fun and so complicated at the same time. A lot goes into taking a photo. From gear, camera settings and post processing. Although this interest is new, I am excited to move forward with it and keep learning.

This post is a contribution for Scholastic Journalism Week #SJW2021.

For more Feather photos, visit The Feather media page.