Four-year Feather writer reflects on the experience

After saying goodbye to mom 4,660 days ago and walking into Mrs. (Amy) Witters’ kindergarten class, I am almost ready to walk off the stage at graduation. The first thing that reflecting on these 13 years brings to mind is a whole-hearted thank you.

At Fresno Christian, I have felt support, encouragement, and love from teachers, coaches, and especially my friends. I know who I am today is thanks to teachers like Mrs. (Amy) Witters, Mrs. (Denise) Tally, Mrs. (Martha) Lange, Mrs. (Stacey) Ferguson, Mr. (Matthew) Weimer, and Mr. (Jonathon) Broersma.

And in junior high and high school, the support and mentorship only continued, thanks to teachers like Mr. (Terry) Richards, Mrs. (Hallie) Rojeski, Mr. (Kyle) Dodson, Dr. (Karen) Walters, Mr. (Michael) Fuller, Mr. (Jon) Penberthy, Mr. (Greg) Stobbe, Mrs. (Susan) Ainsley, Mrs. (Angie) Counts, Mrs. (Aubri) Foster, Mrs. (Andrea) Donaghe, Mr. (Scott) Bucher, Mrs. (Kori) James, Mrs. (Marianela) Aguilar, Mr. (Jacob) Cantu, and, the best world history teacher in the world, my dad, Mr. (Robert) Foshee.

Attending FCS has been one long formative experience, but among the most influential experiences  has been writing on The Feather.

My first encounter with adviser Greg Stobbe came when I was in 8th grade, at a senior grad party. Before I knew what happened, Stobbe had hijacked my summer vacation.

No longer a spectator of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Stobbe had transformed me into a journalist covering the event. With a voice recorder in hand and questions memorized, I walked up to a speller, made eye contact, opened my mouth, and… no words came out. Bemused but probably a little disturbed, he kept looking as I searched for anything to say. Eventually, he turned back to a friend and I walked away.

Though my heart was beating out of my chest, I did leave the spelling bee with four interviews, including one with the winner and runner-up. I realized two things that day: first, talking to people is absolutely terrifying, and second, journalism would make me do just that, a lot.

Looking back, I am so thankful Stobbe cast this petrified freshman into sink-or-swim situations. The 80 articles I’ve written are truly among my fondest memories from high school.

The Feather has let me interview names way bigger than I ever imagined, like John F. Kelly, Sewell Chan, David Pogue, and Jerry Dyer. It has given me a place to share my passions, through book reviews and a rocketry blog. And through journalism, I have learned more about my classmates, like Tyus Parrish-Tillman and Rylee Schwab.

Student journalism pushed me to consider topics way more expansive than I realized, as the definition of heroism or the infamous truth article. It also taught me to craft a story about much less philosophical events, like football games.

Journalism helped me grow outside of writing articles, also. I learned leadership lessons just by watching my editor-in-chief(s).

I especially want to thank Alexander Rurik and Sam Cross for staying in at lunch, working one-on-one with me, spending hours on the phone with me this summer when I found out I would be an editor-in-chief myself. Pretty much everything I did this year was modeled after their example.

After 80 articles and over 200 interviews, it is almost impossible to imagine high school without The Feather. But looking forward, it is just as difficult to picture my future had I not taken journalism.

I have wanted to be a pilot since 1st grade. Back when I was in lower elementary, Fresno Christian had a Northeast campus directly downrange of the 144th Fighter Wing, and every other day class would have to stop for a few minutes as F-15 Eagles roared overhead, the raw power of their engines drowning out everything the teacher was saying.

One day we were at recess during a flyover, and I watched mesmerized as a pilot looped and rolled in the open blue sky. I knew next to nothing about flight and even less about the military, but I knew I wanted that job.

Nine years later, as a sophomore, my interest in aerospace had only grown, but I did not know what I was going to do with it. Serving in the Air Force was still a pipe dream. This began to change when I got the assignment to interview the Blackhawk pilots landing at Fresno Christian.

Talking to CPT Joseph Gentry was cool enough, but imagine my excitement when he invited me to tour the base he worked at, the 1106th Theater Aviation Support Maintenance Group. As we walked past some of the most advanced aircraft in the world, and he shared what it is like to fly these on a daily basis, I knew what I wanted to do after high school.

Over this previous summer, I started applying to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, and ROTC programs at colleges in California. While writing application essays, I realized how much of who I am was developed on The Feather. From leadership lessons to interview skills to teamwork, journalism has put me in a position to become who I want to be in life.

I was fortunate enough to receive both an ROTC scholarship and an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the latter of which I will be attending starting in June.

Though not every day was easy and some years were harder than others, I wouldn’t trade my four years on The Feather for anything. I will always remember and cherish the time spent with such great teammates, advisers, and friends.

I am so glad I spent this year in journalism with three other seniors, Jewel Chandler, Brayden Iest, and Kyle Clem. Read Chandler’s senior reflection and Senior reflection: Brayden Iest‘s final articles.

For another Feather article, read Coronavirus pandemic, rise of misinformation highlight importance of media literacy.

For more of Bryce Foshee’s articles, visit his profile page. Bryce Foshee can be reached via Twitter @brycer_f and via email.