“Never give up on your dreams”

kylee thompson|staff writer

As the year is coming to an end, I am reminiscing about my time as a high schooler and I can’t help but think of all the amazing memories I have made. There’s no doubt high school came with its highs and lows. FOMO was a direct result of many of the lows; however, I learned throughout high school that I can not let this control me.

My experience joining the Newspaper staff has been quite different than many of my peers. I was not able to join Newspaper until my very last year of high school — this is where the FOMO comes into the picture. Since freshman year, I allotted space to join the Newspaper staff. However, due to required courses and other electives, I was never able to find the time to join.

After returning from Covid, my junior year, I was finally able to take journalism. I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere of the class, the teacher and the ability to design pages and write stories was something I loved, even if I was surrounded by freshmen that just wanted the technology credit.

When Mrs. Huss, the journalism teacher, said I should join Newspaper, my confidence was boosted to apply.

After lots of intricate rewriting of my application, one day I finally saw “Kylee Thompson” on the 2022-2023 Newspaper staff list — I was ecstatic.

On my first day walking into class, I was nervous — everyone knew each other and I was the oldest newbie. I felt like a college student at a high school dance — too old to be there. Nevertheless, from the beginning, I found my place in Newspaper. I was surrounded by fellow journalists who loved what I loved. Everyone was so nice and welcoming that Newspaper quickly became my favorite class. I looked forward to Newspaper every day and especially on Fridays when someone brings in treats.

My first assignment was to write about foreign exchange students. It was incredible being able to interview people and tell their stories. Even though I felt like I was in over my head, the editors and other staff members were very helpful and assisted with anything and everything.

Photo assignments scared me from the get-go. I had no clue how to use a fancy camera or adjust the lighting and photo speed, something that is very necessary for any photo assignment.

My fears were quickly put to rest when the amazing staff was very quick to answer my texts; even on weekend photo assignments. Thanks, Charley and Ayesha.

Taking photos of various events at BV encouraged me to meet so many of my peers. I was able to attend sports and other events that I would have probably never gone to.

From this amazing journey, I have realized that FOMO can be combated by putting myself in unfamiliar situations. My goal for senior year was to live in the moment and meet as many people as I could. Joining Newspaper allowed me to achieve this goal. I interviewed people from every grade and heard every person’s individual story. Some new friendships have begun just from a simple interview.

Thanks to Newspaper, I have learned so many life lessons and experienced some of my favorite BV memories. From pumpkin carving to Thanksgiving and Secret Santa, I am so thankful for the Newspaper staff and these fun traditions.

Joining Newspaper was the best thing I could have done, even if it was late. The wonderful journalists I have been able to work with became my comfort people throughout my senior year. I still feel confident being myself around them, even when Adobe InDesign is stressing me out and I can’t help but yell at it.

If there is anything you take away from me rambling about high school, it is to never give up on your dreams and to continue to step out of your comfort zone — that was the best thing I could have done for myself in my final year as a high schooler.

Thank you to everyone on staff for always being there for me and always being so patient. I will miss you all dearly.

Love, Kylee

design by brynn friesen

brynn friesen |web editor

I put off writing this column for a long time (for the most part, though, I just forgot it was due). But really, it’s not something that comes easy to me, writing about myself.

Sure, I can write as much as I want about other people, but when it comes to myself, I am not confident in those skills. I never know what to focus on, I never want to seem fake, but I also never want to include anything that might make me seem “weird.”

All in all, I’m scared of writing about myself because I’m scared of judgment. It’s been this way in my social life since the end of middle school.

As a transfer kid, I came into a brand new high school knowing absolutely no one except my senior sister. After the hardships we all faced in middle school, I had zero to no confidence in my social skills and in myself as a person.

I kept thinking to myself how awkward I was and that if I put myself out there, people wouldn’t like me. Even Huss could back me up when I say I was silent, considering I never talked when I joined the newspaper freshman year.

Being surrounded by people you don’t know is scary as it is, but when you add the lack of confidence and self-esteem, it becomes something even more terrifying.

So, even though I knew I would love newspaper, I closed myself off from any new friendships I could make and refused to put myself out there.

As sophomore year came around, and Covid was in full blast, I actually felt so much more comfortable with myself. I could hide behind a screen, a way for me to avoid the uncomfortable silence that came with my in-person social situations.

As I look back on it, I see Covid as a vital learning experience and a period of self-help. While it did not help whatsoever with making friends, perhaps it was a good thing that I was isolated — I got my confidence back up to the level necessary for junior year.

Junior year, however, presented a different challenge for me: Lack of motivation. To this day, I still struggle big time with this, seeing as I’m submitting this column five days late.

I started to only try my best in classes that I enjoyed the content of and gave up on things that bored me.

Since I was a child, this was a problem of mine with new activities. When I would get too frustrated or could not do something perfectly on the first try, I would immediately break down.

Last year, this mindset switched to academics. I would notice that I forgot to turn something in, but rather than completing it as soon as possible, I would think to myself, “It’s already late — just do it later.”

Eventually, this way of thinking caused my grades to start dropping, something that is still happening to me right now. While I was able to get them back up, I had to complete all of my missing assignments in the span of a few weeks, rather than a few months. One would think that I would have learned from the consequences of this habit, but I am still trying to overcome it.

What so many need to remember is it is OK to not be perfect on the first try. It is OK to have flaws. It is OK to feel like you are lonely, and it is OK to feel uncomfortable.

All of these feelings are valid, but something we also need to remember is that these feelings do not define who we are. Every single person is so much more than their negativities.

Now, as senior year comes to an end, I can proudly say that I have finally gained my sense of social confidence. While I am still working on my procrastination, at least I’ve crossed one milestone.

The key to gaining back my confidence was accepting that no matter what, there will always be someone who doesn’t appreciate you for who you are. All you have to do is figure out who will and, most importantly, stay true to yourself.

design by regan byrnes