My final semester of high school also turned out to be my first semester as a writer for The Tower. How did I get here, though?

Turning the clocks back to my freshman year, I was a huge fan of The Tower. I’d read every issue, curious about what’s going on in the community, curious about what elaborate feature stories someone had the idea to write, curious about the opinion columns and tedious but brilliant graphics. I was curious about everything. Then, class selection day would come around, and I would mistakenly fill in a spot that should’ve said “Honors Journalism” with something else.

Now, four years later, with one semester at The Tower under my belt, I can confidently say that it has been one of the most enjoyable semesters out of all eight I’ve had at South. I couldn’t be more thankful that junior me finally selected Honors Journalism as a class. Although Honors Journalism isn’t The Tower, it is the prerequisite, and traditionally a year-long class. However, being a senior, I was graciously given the opportunity to join The Tower, despite having only completed half of the prerequisites. Thank you, Mrs. Singer!

I would recommend Honors Journalism to every single student who’s ever been mildly interested in an issue of the Tower. I’ll admit, I wanted to get straight to writing, skip all of the meticulous and lengthy learning to get there, and rather just be thrust into the middle of everything. Had I done that, I would’ve ruined my relationship with writing and The Tower. Journalism can seem easy, but to anyone who hasn’t actually done it, I assure you, it is complicated. There are many more steps and challenges than foreseeable. Honors Journalism covers all of the bases. Had I stayed there instead of switching to The Tower in the second semester, I probably would have had a better understanding of lots of the concepts and procedures of the Tower.

From the beginning of my Honors Journalism time, I expressed interest in someday being a writer for the Tower; however, I also missed ten days of school in October alone, so I’m sure Mrs. Singer thought I was delusional at one point. I was committed, though, writing for the Tower had been a dream of mine for 4 years, a dream that I had never acted upon. So I stuck my foot in the ground and engaged with the material. I had a thorough understanding of news stories, feature stories, cutlines, AP Style rules and the art of photography. When I approached Mrs. Singer right before midterm week, I was extremely grateful when she said I was welcome on The Tower staff. I wish that I would’ve The Tower years ago. Don’t be like me, even if your interest is minimal, pick The Tower!