Wow. I seriously can’t believe that I’m writing this senior reflection. These past four years have really just flown by for me, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world! Of the many activities that I was involved in at Nazareth, The Announcer was definitely one of the most demanding, but exciting and rewarding ones as well!

I began my career on The Announcer my sophomore year, after being approached by Ms. Giancarlo, the former moderator of The Announcer at the end of my freshman year. She was very impressed with my writing skills in English class, and wanted me to become part of the school newspaper. I gladly accepted and was glad to become involved in one of my first activities at Nazareth Academy.

My sophomore year began under the leadership of Carrie Turek. I was the copy editor, whose role it is to edit everyone’s articles so that they are acceptable to be published. I learned so much about working with Adobe InDesign and grammar, that at times I had questioned why exactly I joined this club… Nevertheless, I had a great time working with everyone on the staff that year, and I was able to learn so many new things. The main one was that apparently there is a boy’s bathroom on K3. Additionally, I learned the importance of leadership and being in charge of the variety of articles that are featured in every issue.

My junior year on The Announcer staff was very different. Under the leadership of Jen Smigelski, along with Ms. Giancarlo again, I began writing for the News section, focusing on world issues and features going on at Nazareth. I remember my first formal interview was with Mrs. Tracy about the new for 2011 to 2012 school year Chemistry lab. I made sure to carefully write down every word she said so that I would not misquote her, and that even though I was very nervous the whole time, Mrs. Tracy was a very welcoming and personable, which helped to make my first interview a great one to remember. It was about this time when I decided that my future lay ahead in the career field of writing. I was always that kid who was excited for an essay in English class and who poured every effort of his soul into the research paper to ensure I would get a good grade. Being on The Announcer helped me to develop this interest in writing and it even helped me to realize that it is what my future lies in. I also realized this year that journalism was what I wanted to study in college, which is why I chose The University of Missouri at Columbia for college. Its journalism program is second to none, and I am anxious but excited to begin new experiences there this fall! I was very grateful for all of the opportunities that The Announcer gave me my junior year, and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world.

Flash forward to the beginning of senior year. We had a new moderator, Ms. Radogno, along with an entirely new online format. We also had lost a great deal of our staff, most of which were seniors that had graduated the prior May. However, I was not discouraged, and neither were my fellow senior staff mates. We began assembling a staff of reporters and figuring out our new online format. With the paper coming out only four times for the school year, we were under a lot less stress to produce consistent stories and come up with new and interesting material. Nevertheless, we rose up to the challenge to put out fun and interesting stories that Nazareth students would want to read. We also had the help of Ms. Radogno, with her excellent organization and communication skills that helped to keep track of everything in an orderly fashion. I know for a fact that we would not have been able to get through this year without her guidance and planning.

Well, there it is: My last article for The Announcer. It’s a bittersweet moment, but I know that this is only the first of many articles that I will be writing in the years to come. This makes me realize that despite my groaning and grumblings over the years, it has been nothing but a pleasure to write for The Announcer. I feel like I will be able to take away so much from this experience and apply it to my college career, and for that, I am forever grateful.