Ever since I was in middle school and began journalism at Brownell, I looked up to The Tower.

My journalism teacher, Mr. Ernst, would show our class copies of The Tower, and I was already excited to think that hopefully, in a few years, I would be able to be among the talented people who write, design and edit the paper. I could only dream that one day I would be the Editor in Chief of this publication, and that dream has become a reality as Tower has become more and more important in my life over the past two years.

I have loved journalism since seventh grade, when I was introduced to it at Brownell and saw how much of an impact it had not only on my writing skills, but the way I grew socially, learning how to talk to other people and the bonds I made with others through it. Then I was introduced to Tower, and learned to love being part of the paper on an entirely new level.

Every Monday I would get excited going to deadline, spending time with my friends there and being part of the countless amazing memories we make every day in the Tower room. Some of my best friends have come from Tower, just because we spend so much time together and grow so close over the years of working with each other and developing into more talented writers, designers, journalists and better people together. There hasn’t been a deadline where I haven’t been laughing about something Liz said, something Ray, Liam, JD or Imran did, or making fun of JackJohn’s incessant cleaning that he somehow expects me to carry on next year.

I am so excited to have the privilege to lead The Tower next year. This publication has such a rich history, such amazing traditions surrounding it and a network of people I’ve been able to meet, learn from and work with my past two years on staff and even during my freshman year in Honors Journalism.

Since this year marked the 90th anniversary of The Tower newspaper, at the fundraiser/gala we held, I was able to meet former renown Tower adviser Bob Button and other Tower staffers and editors who are now adults. The vast network of previous Tower staffers who traveled from all different cities and states to see each other and their previous adviser at the gala was incredible to me, and reminded me of just how important Tower is on so many levels, including making lasting relationships and memories.

Two Tower advisers, Rod Satterthwaite and Kaitlin Edgerton, have coached me and inspired me to be the journalist I am today. I have been able to learn from past and current editors, Liz, JJ, Jack, Erykah and Anton, and so many other editors, and I can’t thank them enough for all they have taught me.

As Editor in Chief next year, I am going to continue to make The Tower the successful, exemplary weekly paper it is. I will use what I have taken from everyone I have learned from, along with the experiences I have gained myself, and employ this to make me a stronger leader of this paper. Even though some say print is dying, this community subscribing to and reading The Tower each week is helping us keep the print publication thriving as it has for 90 years.

Walking through the halls into class seeing people reading The Tower, which we spend hours of our time on each week– brainstorming story ideas and angles, doing interviews, writing stories, designing pages and editing–is so rewarding. That is what’s most important to me: seeing our work be appreciated and read by the school and the community as a whole. Our goal is to come out with the best quality, unbiased, ethical news and inform South and the Grosse Pointe community of what is happening here. We want to be a reliable source of news for all of you and we want to publish something you get excited to read each week.

How are we going to be able to make that happen? From the support, we get from the school and community. By being able to approach sources who are willing to talk to us and give us information for our stories. By encountering people who ask us about what we are writing and how we are doing, who care about what we publish. We will only be able to do this from being supported by the school and community who our time is spent on and who The Tower is published for each week. This is what we need, and what will allow this paper to continue to succeed.

I am so proud of what The Tower has accomplished so far in each of its 90 years and am looking forward to leading this paper next year. I love working with everyone, and please, if you have concerns or questions, bring them to me. I would be happy to talk about them with you.

We at The Tower love being your source of the news. Continue to read what we publish, interview with us, give us feedback and support this publication. I have loved these past two years working as part of The Tower newspaper, and cannot wait for next year.