Senior shares stories, contemplates future

Three years ago, I began my journey on The Feather as a frightened sophomore not knowing where it would lead me. Today, somehow just days away from graduation, my journey has nearly reached its end. My path to this moment, while it hasn’t been easy, has been a memorable one.

I first came to Fresno Christian at the beginning of second grade. On the first day of school, I met someone that would have a profound impact on my life: Bryce Foshee. From that day, we had an instant connection and quickly became best friends that year. While switching to a new school is never easy, Bryce made that transition infinitely easier.

Heading into my high school career, I had no idea what to expect from this new experience. Naively, I expected high school to be junior high 2.0. Spoiler alert: I was wrong. The high school experience offers so much more than junior high in terms of activities and community involvement. This, along with tougher classes and a refreshing sense of freedom make high school a different animal.

Entering my freshman year, my sister, Kaylie Clem, had just concluded her first year on The Feather’s photojournalism team. Once Feather adviser Greg Stobbe found out that she had a younger brother entering high school, the recruitment process began. However, I resisted, wanting the opportunity to get a feel for the high school experience before I committed myself to anything major.

The next year, I finally caved in and decided to sign up for the journalism team. While this originally seemed to be a huge mistake, I quickly realized how valuable that decision would be for my future.

While my first year on the team was never a cakewalk, I received some amazing opportunities to grow as a person and push myself out of my comfort zone. At this time, I was a terrified sophomore who hated talking to both adults and strangers. Luckily, this class forced me to break out of that shell and condition myself to talk with some really cool people with phenomenal stories to share.

Throughout the year, I got many opportunities to explore different aspects of the journalism world to see which one I gravitated toward. The one that ended up sticking with me most was the sports journalism field.

For my second article, I got the chance to talk to Nick “The Pagmeter” Papagni about how to grow in the sports broadcasting world. With this being my first interview, I didn’t know what to expect and anticipated the worst. However, all things considered, it went well and provided me with a confidence boost for future articles.

Later that year, The Feather staff prepared for its annual spring trip, this year the team headed to the NSPA conference in Anaheim, California. On this trip, I got an amazing chance to learn from top professionals in the industry on how to enhance my writing and interviewing skills.

Along with these incredible educational opportunities, I got to make some of my best high school memories alongside my friends. From “Y U no feed me” GIF’s to made up words like “dewellestration” to plastic straws, this trip bonded The Feather team in a way that I’ve never seen before.

Throughout the last three years, The Feather has acted as a personal scrapbook for my journey, allowing me to reflect on past memories and milestones that shaped my high school career. While my first year on the team mainly consisted of covering sports and writing profiles, my assignments matured with me. This year, I got the chance to write articles covering topics like the 2020 presidential inauguration and the importance of media literacy.

In any great program, the measure of success is directly connected to the number of awards won. Just like the college football greats like Alabama and Clemson, The Feather has the accolades to back up their greatness. During my time on the team, The Feather won the 2021 CSPA Gold Crown award, the 2020 NSPA Pacemaker award, and the 2019 CSPA Silver Crown award. This winning culture extended far beyond the media lab as well.

During my time at FC, I remained a varsity tennis player all four years of high school. While on the courts, the team earned two league championships, appeared in two CIF Central Section DV Valley championships, winning in 2019.

My time on the tennis team has taught me so many important life lessons through the years. However, the most important one that I plan on taking with me wherever I go is the significance of perseverance. In tennis, it doesn’t matter if you couldn’t hit a ball during the first set, you get a second chance to prove yourself in the second set.

This experience on The Feather has prepared me for my life after high school in ways I never imagined when I first signed up. Now, as a senior preparing for graduation, I look back on my time here with great gratitude for everyone who showed up along the way.

I want to thank Feather advisers Greg Stobbe and Kori James for always pushing me to be a better version of myself and continually supporting me along the way. To my tennis coaches, Robert Foshee and Daniel Jessing, thank you for always believing in me even when I had trouble believing in myself. Your guidance and encouragement have led me to become the man that I am today.

Next school year I will be attending Point Loma Nazarene University and will be majoring in computer science: software engineering.

For more of Kyle Clem’s articles visit his profile. He can be reached via Twitter: @KyleClem21 and via email.

For more senior columns, read Senior reflection: Bryce Foshee, Senior reflection: Brayden Iest and Senior reflection: Jewel Chandler.