The Harbinger Issue 16 2022-23

SER IT’S NOT THAT

IOUS

East’s Class of 2023 takes a lighthearted look back on high school and shares their plans for next year

staff list

PRINT EDITORS

Peyton Moore

Francesca Stamati

ONLINE EDITORS

Lyda Cosgrove

Kate Heitmann

ASST. PRINT EDITORS

Greyson Imm

Katie Murphy

ASST. ONLINE

EDITORS

Aanya Bansal

Maggie Kissick

PHOTO EDITORS

Rachel Bingham

Hadley Chapman

Macy Crosser

ASST. PHOTO EDITORS

Liv Madden

Riley Scott

smeharbinger.net

STORIES

MEDIA

Read an opinion story about the benefits of alone time, an update on the track season and more by visiting smeharbinger.net or scanning the QR code

political cartoon

HEAD COPY EDITORS

Caroline Gould

Caroline Wood ASST. HEAD COPY EDITORS

Aanya Bansal

Greyson Imm

DESIGN EDITORS

Nora Lynn

Anna Mitchell

ASST. DESIGN EDITOR

Bridget Connelly

VIDEO EDITORS

Abby Lee

David Allegri

PODCAST EDITOR

Emma Krause

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS

Mia Vogel

Paige Zadoo

ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

Bridget Connelly

SECTION EDITORS

PRINT NEWS

Addie Moore

ONLINE NEWS

Hassan Sufi

ONLINE FEATURES

Ben Bradley

PRINT SPORTS

Ava Cooper

PRINT EDITORIAL

Sophie Lindberg

ONLINE OPINION

Larkin Brundige

PRINT A&E

Veronica Mangine

STAFF WRITERS

Isabel Baldassaro

Sophia Brockmeier

Larkin Brundige

Maggie Condon

Mary Gagen

Avie Koeneman

Libby Marsh

Lily Simmons

Gracie Takacs

Connor Vogel

Lucy Wolf

Ada Lillie

Worthington

PAGE DESIGNERS

Afa Akwanka’a

Sofia Blades

Adya Burdick

Ava Cooper

Grace Demetriou

Elle Gedman

Veronica Mangine

Kai Mcphail

Lyla Weeks

STAFF ARTISTS

Sofia Blades

Caroline Daniels

Madi Maupin

PHOTO MENTORS

Riley Eck

Julia Fillmore

Claire Goettsch

Caroline Martucci

Emily Pollock

Mason Sajna

STAFF

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Paige Bean

Kate Beaulieu

Lydia Coe

Audrey Condon

Sabrina Dean

Ryan Dehan

Charlotte Emley

Julia Fillmore

Will Griffith

Kenna Harrington

Molly Miller

Clara Peters

Tristen Porter

Alex Sajna

Lili Vottero

MJ Wolf

Amelie Wong

Madi Maupin

VIDEO STAFF

Luke Beil

Calen Domingues

Ryder Hendon

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Harbinger is a student run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The content and opinions of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quotes material may be confrmed with the sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 413B or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com.

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The Harbinger

cartoon by caroline daniels

design by greyson imm cover by peyton moore cover photo by hadley chapman

D R E A M E D BIG

story by libby marsh

JILL

SENIOR JILL RICE is a self-proclaimed indecisive person. Maybe she can barely decide which cereal to grab off of the shelf for breakfast, but she’s been sure about Tulane University since seventh grade.

Jill was only five years old when she first heard her dad utter the name of his alma mater. She grew up hearing about Tulane and spent her childhood taking trips to New Orleans visiting the school. She has loved the city’s culture and school since then.

“Nothing really compares to New Orleans in my opinion,” Jill said. “It has so many great opportunities and programs to do, and so it kind of just became my mindset.”

Jill spent weeks on end writing, rewriting and editing her application for the school, and even making multiple versions of essays — putting far more effort into it than any other throwaway school. On the day acceptance letters came out, Jill was terrified.

“I went to school that day and my friends were all very concerned,” Jill said. “If I didn’t get in, they were like, ‘We’re never going to see you again. You’re not going to leave your room.’”

Jill sat camera ready to record her reaction, mouse hovering over the unread email on her computer. She paused, terrified she wasn’t going to get in, and slowly clicked on it. She sat frozen, in shock unable to comprehend the message on her screen. She’d been accepted to the school that she had been thinking about for over ten years.

“I was so taken aback because I did not expect to get in,” Jill said. “I was really excited when it hit me.”

Immediately after, Jill texted her extended family group chat telling them to come visit her in New Orleans later on. The rest of the night she celebrated by eating ice cream with her friends.

sewing since little

dreams of New York

Three seniors who got college acceptances that fulfilled a childhood dream

ABBY

“OH SH--,” SENIOR Abby Stein muttered, staring at her computer at the long-awaited email.

“What?” her dad asked.

“Well,” Abby said, “I just got into the Fashion Institute of Technology.”

Abby has dreamed about her future in New York City for years — loving its rich history and connection to fashion — and grew up sewing miniature clothes for her American Girl Dolls in third grade, and cultivating her sense of fashion.

Sophomore year, she began searching for schools in New York and discovered the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Between the location and unconventional layout — being stretched across a block of the city and split by a street — she instantly became dead-set on attending.

“She’s always loved New York, and once she found that college and the field that she loves, there was really no turning back for her,” Abby’s mom Kim Stein said.

No matter how many times her mom tried to urge her to look into other colleges or cities, Abby stood firm, only applying to a couple extra safety schools.

“I knew that there was a chance I wasn’t going to get in, but I definitely lived in a world in my head where I’d already gotten in,” Abby said.

Abby has spent her high school career developing her style and learning more about the fashion industry. While she’s never been much for designing and making clothes — preferring to match outfits rather than sew them — she still wants to explore the industry’s business side by majoring in Fashion Business Management.

“I don’t sew as much as someone who necessarily would pursue a design major, and that’s why I didn’t want to go design track because it wasn’t my thing,” Abby said, “But I love using clothes to express myself and so definitely, I still love fashion.”

Miami offers Modern Artist Development program obsessed with Florida

FRITZ

RIDING TO A competition with his Kansas City Arts Coalition singing group, senior Fritz Sullivan was preparing to hop off the bus when he received an email. He froze. Are you OK? Someone asked him, but he could barely hear. He had just been accepted to the University of Miami.

After seeing all of his older siblings apply to college, Fritz felt the need to commit to a university as well, just as a third grader. He decided he wanted to move to Florida and attend the University of Miami. Other than the weather, there was no reason for his choice — but Fritz still told everyone he knew that he would go there one day and play soccer. He became so adamant that his parents even bought him a University of Miami flag for Christmas that year.

Eventually this obsession faded and the flag was put into the closet to collect dust, but after many years, Fritz came across the University of Miami again when looking not for soccer but for top music schools.

“Later on, when I was looking at what I wanted to do, and I was looking at programs that had good programs for [music], Miami was one of the first ones to pop up,” Fritz said. “I [thought] that [it’d] be funny if I actually end up going there.”

According to Fritz, the University of Miami is one of the few schools with a program combining economics and singing: the Modern Artist Development and Entrepreneurship and Creative American Music Program.

“There’s a very specific program that I was looking for, which is songwriting and performing and playing music, but also learning how to make money doing it,” Fritz said.

Fritz sometimes finds himself questioning reality, wondering if he truly was accepted or thinking that one day he’ll wake up to another email saying that there was a mistake.

“There’s still times, even now, where I feel like it’s not real and I get really paranoid about getting my grades perfect so they don’t rescind my offer,” Fritz said.

design by grace demetriou photos by claire goettsch

dad went to Tulane

loves New Orleans

EUROPE

BOUND

IN ORDER TO provide a well-rounded language education, the Spanish and French departments, led by Spanish teacher Kristina Lind and Spanish and French teacher Gina Halksworth, are finalizing plans for their first study abroad trip since COVID-19. The group will leave for their 10-day trip to London, Paris and Madrid on May 30.

cathedral and synagogue tours.

Along with trying to make the Buckingham Palace guards laugh, Lind and Halksworth will give their students mini “assignments” throughout the trip including ordering meals or translating signs in French or Spanish.

6/3-6/4

Louvre

Notre-Dame Catherdral

Place de la Concorde Champs-Élysées

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower Versailles

Seine River

LONDON PARIS MADRID

6/5-6/7

The trip was first introduced to French and Spanish students in levels 3 and above last April, not including freshmen. By bringing back the trip, Halksworth and Lind are hoping to incite a new level of excitement for language in their students.

“[The trip is] going to show real world experience that you can’t duplicate in the classroom,” Halksworth said. “I like [when we] go to Paris and get on the metro and I’ll have some of my French students figure out where we’re going.”

The group will spend three days in each city with plane and train rides in between. Lind and Halksworth planned a full itinerary through Education First Tours — a travel company that Halksworth has used for school trips since 2002.

“We’re starting in London, so that’s going to be the place of confidence — everyone can speak English,” Halksworth said. “But then we go to France, where some of the Spanish students are going to be saying, ‘How do I order this?’ and [the French students are] going to feel success. They’re gonna be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I really know some of this stuff.’”

This success is what Halksworth and Lind are hoping for from their students. In previous trips, Halksworth and Lind have noticed students pick up on native idiosyncrasies, such as learning new slang or native pronunciation techniques.

IB French 5 senior Rowan Divadeenam hopes that while in Paris, she will experience a whole new type of French fluency.

SPONSORS

38 25 10

SPANISH FRENCH STUDENTS

Puerta del Sol Palacio Real Prado Art Museum

Toledo Cathedral Church of Santo Tomé

Madrid Flamenco Evening

“I’m actually having the same tour guide that I’ve had three different times, so that’s another level of security that I have,” Halksworth said. “I’ve worked with this company since 2002, and they know who I want to have as a tour guide and they make sure that he’s with me.”

Starting with London, the EF Tours guide has planned numerous sight-seeing locations, such as the Big Ben, the House of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. In Paris, the group will see the Mona Lisa — a crowd favorite, according to Lind — and take a boat at night to see the lit-up Eiffel Tower. Finally, Madrid will be filled with authentic Spanish music and food along with a couple

“I feel like I’ll hear more conversational French [in Paris because] in the classroom you just get textbook [grammar],” Divadeenam said. Though this is only the first trip since the pandemic, Lind and Halksworth have already started planning the next trip. They hope to offer a trip every other year, and make each one different. For example, Lind has mentioned taking her Spanish classes to South America or Halksworth taking her students to Nice, France or Pisa, Italy. Lind and Halksworth are ready to get fully back to normal since COVID-19.

“In 2025, we’d like to have more people,” Lind said. “We’d love to have a different group of people, but even [larger numbers]. Keep your eyes out, and at the end of 2024 we’ll start talking about the next one.”

design by caroline wood

story by ada lillie worthington

Update on upper-level French and Spanish students’ trip to Europe this summer

FRENCH AND SPANISH TEACHER

[THE TRIP IS] going to show real world experience that you can’t duplicate in the classroom.

GINA HALKSWORTH

HIGH,

LOW,

copy by addie moore

“Three teachers who aren’t returning next year recap their times as Lancers with the highs, the lows and “buffalos” — the weirdest moments

ACCEPTANCE AT EAST

IN HER DISCRETE Math class on “Cake Day” — a day dedicated to slicing cake into fair parts based on percentages and then eating it — a group of students took a piece and smashed it into Pence’s face.

The entire class was silent for a moment, not knowing whether Pence thought it was funny or mad, but after Pence’s shock settled in, they were all able to laugh about it.

“Once everybody realized it was OK, we all relaxed and breathed again,” Pence said. “But there was some terror for a few minutes.”

A Hauberk photographer, knowingly in on the surprise, even got a picture of Pence’s icing-covered face and put it in that year’s yearbook.

HIGH

BEFORE SHE PRESENTED this year’s first day of school “get to know the teacher” presentation, math teacher Emily Colebank was nervous — she was about to introduce her female fiancé, Hailey. Back when Colebank graduated from East in 2013, she wouldn’t have felt comfortable publicly coming out in the Columbia blue halls.

But when the picture loaded, Colebank received no significant response from students — they treated it like coming out to a 30-person classroom is perfectly normal and acceptable. Colebank was elated.

“It’s been really positive knowing that 10 years ago, this school [had] a completely different culture,” Colebank said. “Since I left and returned, it feels like a much safer place for teachers to be [part of the LGBTQ+ community], but also for kids to be living their truth.”

FRESHMAN FLOAT FAIL LANCER LEGACY

WHEN MATH TEACHER Hannah Pence was a senior at East, she was voted “most likely to return to East as a teacher.” Since then, Pence has spent 26 additional years as a Lancer.

She even unintentionally decorated her home blue, black and white — most of her life has been consumed by East.

“Majority of the important people in my life come from East,” Pence said. “They’re my friends from highschool, colleagues that I’ve worked with and I even met my husband because of my colleagues here.”

AS THE FRESHAMN class StuCo sponsor, Colebank’s expectations were high for the council’s Lancer Day “Space Jam” themed float. All went well until the float got a flat tire — so flat that the metal frame skidded down the Mission Rd. pavement, forcing the drivers to pull off-route.

Walking behind a group of disappointed freshmen reminded Colebank of the same disappointment she faced as an 18-year-old when she discovered her float was completely trashed on her senior year Lancer Day. The orchestra float Colebank spent hours building was vandalized the morning of the parade. Colebank was forced to skip school that day to remake the float.

IN 2009, THE Shawnee Mission School District went through a period of laying off their staff. Their tactic for choosing which staff to let go — summarized with the “last hired, first fired” slogan — terrified the newly-hired Goodeyon.

“The former Department Chair came up to me in the hallway and said, ‘It’s going to be you,’” Goodeyon said. “Then she came back to me the next day and was not very kind to me and said, ‘It’s not going to be you, it’s going to be somebody else.’”

Thankfully for Goodeyon, her certification to teach AP and IB classes saved her from being laid off.

FOR EAST

A SWEET SURPRISE LANCER LAY-OFFS FALLING

WHILE RAPIDLY WRAPPING a student in toilet paper during a pep assembly a few years ago, Goodeyon tripped and face planted in front of the entire student body.

Completely mortified, she laughed it off.

As if the pep assembly wasn’t enough, clumsy Goodeyon has tripped in the parking lot, in the hallway and many other places all over the building — all of which was captured by her colleagues and joked about later on.

“There’s far too many videos of me falling down in this place,” Goodeyon said.

design by lily simmons

photo by clara peters

design by bridget connelly photos by molly miller & caroline martucci

BUNKING

Pairs of seniors choose to room with their lifelong best friends in college

story by david allegri

WITH YOUR BESTIE

SENIORS AVERY KIM and Suzette Navarro have been friends for seven years, making it through both middle and high school. In those seven years, they can’t recall a time they’ve even been close to fighting — but their record may be put to a test once they become college roommates in the fall.

The friendship dates back to sixth grade when Avery transferred to Prairie Elementary. She remembers struggling to make connections at the new school, but someone always stuck by her side through the new experiences — Suzette.

As the decision to commit to a college drew closer, neither one of them anticipated the outcome, but as fate — and a little persuasion from one another — would have it, they both decided on Kansas State University.

“We’ve always talked about wanting to live together in the future after college,” Avery said. “I think it’ll be interesting to see how our dynamic

DORMS DO’S

Things Sabrina and Jennifer want for their dorm

FAIRY LIGHTS

changes when we’re in a room by ourselves.”

Now seven years, two schools and a claimed zero fights later, the two girls basically finish each other’s sentences. With college looming, they began to accept that they would go their separate ways and the fact that they’d no longer be minutes away — or so they thought.

Both girls realize that living with someone is completely different than just being friends. Whether it’s sharing clothes, bathrooms or having to clean up after one another, living with a roommate can be challenging, but they believe that it’ll allow them to become closer, and strengthen their friendship.

College is a place to meet new people, have new experiences and live independently, but both of them agree that they’re glad to have one another to lean on through their college journey.

“I’m excited about being together every single day and night,” Suzette said. “Sharing one closet, and sharing clothes; it’ll be a struggle, but it’ll be fun.”

FROM HIDING IN the back of dance class to crying with each other over ex-boyfriends, seniors Sabrina Thuenemann and Jennifer Wheeler have been through a lot together in their seven-year friendship. Throughout adventures, sleepovers and heartbreaks, they’ve become nearly inseparable and as they leave for college, they plan on going into this new era together.

SIMPLE BEDDING

GREENERY WALL ART

NATURAL LIGHT

MINIMALISTIC POSTERS

Sabrina and Jennifer will both attend Kansas State University. Prior to committing, they were both indecisive so they took a trip to Manhattan to visit the college. All it took was one night — the culmination of the campus, atmosphere and the people, and they were sold.

Once they both

decided on the same college, they had the hard task of finding a roommate — which proved to be not so difficult after all.

AVERY SUZE SAB

“I feel like it’s nice going to college having at least one person that you’re close with,” Thuenemann said. “It’s a bunch of new people that you don’t know and it’s nice having someone to rely on.”

They’ve even made a Pinterest board of cute ideas for the decor and layout of their room — but they both agree the real struggle will be maintaining the cleanliness of the dorm.

As they move into their dorm room, they can’t help but feel a little nervous.

“Sometimes it’ll be great,” Sabrina said. “And sometimes it won’t. But I think in the first half, we’re gonna be fine. As long as we give each other space we’ll get through it.”

Both of them are glad that they’re rooming together and are hoping the transition goes smoothly, but as Wheeler jokingly said:

“I think there is an option to switch roommates at the end of the semester.”

& KIM

TTE RINA THUENEMANN

&

JENN

IFER WHEELER

SENIOR

IT’S A BUNCH of new people that you don’t know so having like one person you know it nice

SABRINA THUENEMANN

HE ALWAYS TOOK the third one. During their family’s sacred weekly tradition of Waffle Sunday, now-freshman Caroline Daniels remembers how her brother Connor would always offer the first, crispiest two waffles to her and her brother Nathan — every time. That’s just the kind of person Connor was.

“He was always just such a great brother towards me,” Caroline said.

While Caroline remembers his generous spirit, his parents, Jen and Kevin Daniels, remember Connor for his goofy but wickedly smart personality. His best friend senior Spencer Collins remembers his quick wit and quirky love of puns. And his other best friend, senior Luke Kounkel, remains inspired by his creativity and passion for writing.

Connor took his own life in seventh grade on March 23, 2018. Family, friends, teachers and classmates who loved Connor remember his unique personality and selfless character through their memories of him now — the year he would’ve graduated from East.

Connor was quiet, but brilliant. 1320-onthe-SAT-as-a-seventh-grader brilliant. Able-to-multiply-242-times-38-in-hishead-as-a-first-grader brilliant. Casuallyrattling-off-astrophysics-facts-as-a-sevenyear-old brilliant. His parents were always so proud and in awe of Connor’s intelligence, wit and humor.

“I was just so lucky to be a dad to such an exceptional child,” Kevin said.

Before they moved from Texas to Kansas, Jen and Kevin once walked down to his elementary school to check in on him at recess. At first, they were concerned and

saddened by what they saw — their son walking laps alone, not talking to anyone. When they asked him about it that night, Connor replied that, yes, he had friends, and that what he was doing was writing a book in his head.

“He was comfortable being with friends, and comfortable being alone,” Kevin said.

When the family moved to Kansas at the start of Connor’s fourth grade year, they were really worried that it would be very a big change for the kids, and if they’d be able to fit in. All the kids had really known to that point was life in Texas.

But Connor quickly found a few really incredible friends — Spencer Collins and Luke Kounkel. The three instantly became inseparable.

“One enduring memory I will cherish is the image of Connor and Luke walking slowly around the court during a practice at basketball,” their basketball coach Steve wrote to be read at his memorial service in 2018. “They are oblivious to the ball and chaos and coaches. They are engrossed in deep conversation, comfortably enveloped in their friendship and some great idea.”

After-school time and weekends for the trio were spent with hours-long trampoline sessions, PC gaming marathons and endless conversations about ideas for books Connor was planning to write — only interrupted by one of his signature cheesy puns. Spencer remembers once when he said that puns were the lowest form of humor. Without skipping a beat, Connor coolly replied “Then poop jokes must be #2.”

“We spent so much time doing stupid little things together,” Spencer said. “It’s those little things I miss the most.”

Despite Connor’s affinity for video games, math and science, his true passion was reading. His parents attribute it to his insatiable curiosity. He read whatever he could get his hands on — usually in a day or two. Jen recalls one time she literally watched him walk into a light pole while walking home from school, keeping his eyes glued to the book.

After his passing, his parents wanted to make an impact in the community, but didn’t know how. Originally, they planned to donate to a suicide prevention charity, but it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like Connor. Then they thought of Operation Breakthrough, a youth outreach organization Jen found out about from meeting the president and CEO at a Corinth fundraising event. Both of them agreed that contributing support and books to low-income youth fit his generous, kind soul.

With the help of Operation Breakthrough and their family friends who organized it, they donated $35,000 to the organization and founded Connor’s Corner, a minilibrary area in the Operation Breakthrough facility made up of donated books. Jen and Kevin regularly throw parties at their house, inviting neighbors and collecting books for Connor’s Corner.

Today, you can find a few thousand books in the corner of Operation Breakthrough, ready for anyone to read.

“It’s rewarding, but sad,” Kevin said. “We love helping people and we love that it’s making an impact, but at the same time, we hate the reason why.”

Despite the positive impact their efforts with Operation Breakthrough had on the community, it’s still a painful reminder of

Connor’s death. It’s hard, Kevin says, seeing people Connor’s age prepare for graduation and knowing he won’t be tossing his blue cap in the air with his classmates.

Around this time of year, they remember him in the little things. They see him in the color blue — his favorite color and the stunning color of his eyes. And they remember him whenever someone cracks an awful pun. Caroline remembers him on Waffle Sundays, and his parents think of him every time they see the family of cardinals in their backyard.

“I realized that I really do want to celebrate Connor,” Jen said. “To celebrate him every day and in any way I can. Whether that’s by telling terrible jokes, listening to truly terrible music on the radio, wearing the color blue or making myself a tripledecker peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

It gradually gets easier, but the pain is still there. Nevertheless, he will always be a loving big brother and son, a friend to Spencer and Luke and a member of the class of 2023. But it’s how Jen explained it to Caroline the day Connor passed away:

“It’s like when you smile when a tooth goes missing,” Caroline said. “It will never really feel the same. But you get used to it. Over the years, the pain went away more. And I don’t think about it as much, but when I see things that remind me of him or a kid at work that looks like him, it makes me reminisce for a little bit and then it passes. Now I’m not as angry at him or sad. It’s always gonna be there, but it’s less painful to think about.”

story by greyson imm

Family, friends and community members remember their late classmate Connor Daniels as he would’ve been graduating this year

design by caroline gould photos courtesy of the daniels family

design by veronica mangine photo by liv madden

AT THE BEGINNING of the school year, Senior Brennan Montalbano embarked on a mission to create a playlist that would encapsulate the spirit of the 2023 senior class. The result was the Legendary Playlist: a compilation of songs submitted by his peers that would serve as a lasting memory of their high school experience.

The idea behind the playlist was simple — each senior could submit one song to a Google Form as their contribution. The genres were open, and the only rules were that the song couldn’t be changed once submitted and no two songs could be the same.

131 seniors submitted to the playlist, but these three seniors submitted their song with a true purpose.

DESPITE BEING WRITTEN over two decades ago, senior Delaney McDermed believes that “Cherub Rock” by the Smashing Pumpkins has an energy and message that has stood the test of time.

This song is more than just a catchy tune. McDermed views it as a reflection of the challenges she faced throughout high school. The lyrics, although not

SENIOR

story by maggie kissick

SOUND TRACK

written with her and other high schoolers in mind, describe her search for identity and a sense of belonging.

“I know that life can be tough, but ‘Cherub Rock’ reminds me to keep pushing forward,” McDermed said. “It’s a song that’s always been there for me, and I know it always will be.”

McDermed connects lyrics like “Freak out and give in” to the desire for high school

AT FIRST LISTEN, “Alrighty Aphrodite” by Peach Pit might sound like just any other catchy indie-pop song, but for senior Ava Black, the track represents something much deeper.

“It’s the kind of song that just fits every moment,” Black said. “Whether I’m studying for exams or driving around town with my friends, it just works.”

The song is all about navigating the complexities of relationships and growing up,

SENIOR TOMMY MARX

was confident that his submission “Hearts Have Turned to Stone” by Leon Russell and Elton John is the song to perfectly depict being a high school senior.

The uncertainty, the fear, the search for identity — it was all there in the lyrics. As he listened to the song, he felt like someone else understood what he was going through. It

students to follow the crowd and fit in. The driving guitar riffs and pounding drums create an energy that she finds infectious.

“It’s amazing how a song written decades ago can still resonate with me so deeply,” McDermed said. “The themes of disillusionment and searching for meaning in life are universal and relatable.”

according to Black. She finds the song to be something all high schoolers can relate to.

She connects “Alrighty Aphrodite” to highs, her choir class, and lows — stress of AP and honors courses — throughout her high school experience. The song’s bittersweet lyrics serve as a reminder that youth is fleeting and life is full of surprises.

“I think we all have moments where we feel great and other moments where we feel like everything is falling apart,” Black said. “And

gave him a sense of comfort and validation.

As college application season approached, he felt the weight of the real world bearing down on him. “Hearts Have Turned to Stone” became an anthem for Marx as he navigated through these questions. Whenever he felt lost or overwhelmed, the lyrics in this song reminded him that he wasn’t alone.

But as he listened to “Hearts Have Turned to Stone” on repeat, something shifted. He

DEL ANEY MCDERMED

this song just captures that rollercoaster of emotions.”

As she looks to the future, Black is both hopeful and apprehensive. For now, though, Black is content to listen to “Alrighty Aphrodite” on repeat, savoring every note and every lyric.

“It’s a song that just makes me feel alive,” Black said. “I know I’ll always associate this song with this time in my life.”

began to realize that uncertainty is a natural part of the journey, that it’s OK not to have all the answers. He started to embrace the idea of exploring different paths, of taking risks and seeing where they led.

“I think everyone can relate to feeling unsure,” Marx said. “This song made me realize it’s OK to be undecided about the future.”

TOM MARX MY

Three seniors explain the song they submitted to “The Legendary Playlist”

MAY 8, 2023

YEAR IN PHOTOS

To wrap up the year, here are some of our favorite photos from events that defined the year

RIGHT During the pep rally at the end of the Lancer Day parade, sophomore Grey Robbin displays himself in front of the crowd.

RIGHT Junior Callie Cattaneo begins dissecting a mink by pulling off and disregarding the outer layer of fat. This was the first step required before proceeding with the rest of the dissection.

TOP RIGHT Sophomore

Kris Roth and freshman Kimberly Morales hold a sign to protest gun violence during the national walk out. “It’s our generation and we keep losing people each year,” Morales said. “I feel like the school needs a safer environment.”

RIGHT A crowd of students gather in the East parking lot to watch senior Robbie Cotton shave sophomore Calvin Duske’s hair. Senior Charlie Duske had been told to get a mullet by his varsity soccer teammates, but did not commit until his brother got a buzz cut.

celebrates

after being crowned.

sister really wanted to see me win, so getting some of her friends out would probably be how I got my support, but I think I got a few cans for being kinda funny,”

design by riley scott & liv madden

photo by I claire goettsch

ABOVE Senior Luc Prendiville

his Mr. CANsas victory

“My

Prendiville said. photo by I riley eck

photo by I riley scott

photo by I macy crosser

photo by I caroline martucci

PHOTOSTORY

LEFT During seventh hour, senior Grace Fields gets ready in the dressing room for her first performance of “Reverie” at 3:30 p.m. photo by I charlotte emley

FAR LEFT After floating for less than a minute, student teacher Michael Scott sinks a cardboard boat senior Avery Guck made for a Physics 2 project. “She constructed the boat, and they needed someone to get in it and test it out, so I volunteered. I think because she knew she wasn’t getting in the boat, she didn’t make it well-constructed,” Scott said. photo by I charlotte emley

BELOW The kindergarten Little Lancer Dancer group plays with a tire on the field while they wait to practice their dance for the performance.

photo by I riley eck

ABOVE MIDDLE In the East vs. SM West season-opening game, sophomore George Hartman uses his body to keep the ball in his possession near the goal box. With two periods of overtime and players dropping each minute from cramps, the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

photo by I macy crosser

LEFT Senior Pep Executives Hassan Sufi, Morgan Turpin and Audrey Condon lean forward after senior Dillon Mong catches a 20-yard pass near the endzone against Lawrence High School. Each game of the season, the Pep Executives wear blue striped overalls. photo by I rachel bingham

SCAN ME PHOTO

MEET THE ATE WHITEFIELD

2023

SENIORS

FIVE-YEAR-OLD KATE WHITEFIELD constantly belted songs around her house and even begged her parents to let her sing acapella at the school talent show as a kindergartener. But growing up, she was always the quiet kid in the neighborhood — never playing or messing around with the kids on the street.

She’d be shocked to see her nowsenior self starring as the lead in the school musical, just months away from packing up to move to the “Music City” of America — Nashville, Tenn. — for college at Belmont University to major in Music Therapy.

Music has always been a way for Kate to connect and share her passion, whether that’s giving guitar lessons to little kids or hearing her little neighbors across the street ask their Alexa, “Hey Alexa, play Kate Whitefield on Spotify.”

Kate frequently performs at local coffee

shops like Homer’s Coffee, bringing a change of mood to the normally busy and chaotic environments. Allowing others to connect through her music is one of the things she hopes to accomplish through her future in music therapy.

“I was doing a music gig at Homer’s Coffee House, taking a break in the middle of a set, when I started talking to a woman in scrubs, who I could tell worked in a hospital,” Kate said. “I mentioned how I was going to major in music therapy at Belmont next year, and she told me how there were music therapists at the hospitals she worked at, and how they always brighten peoples’ day.”

The evidence-surrounded therapy uses music interventions to help patients with cognitive issues like depression, autism and Alzheimer’s, as well as physical issues, according to Kate. Music therapy steers away from the usual tests and examinations patients are having in a medical facility and provides a new element of relaxation, self expression and creativity.

“Mainly I hope to connect with people through music, help them with whatever

issues they may be facing and help them find some sense of contentment through music,” Kate said. “I’m particularly interested in working with older people and learning how music functions in memory.”

Kate’s mom, Andrea Whitefield was the first person to mention and introduce music therapy to Kate in middle school. Ever since then, music therapy has always been in the back of her mind, according to Kate.

“One of my good friend’s nieces is a music therapist and Kate reminds me a lot of her,” Andrea said. “I thought it was so interesting that she could take something she is so passionate about and turn it into a career that helps people.”

When it came time for Kate to envision where she saw herself attending college next year, she did her research, finding Belmont as the perfect fit.

“I’m just so excited to be in Nashville and [to be] exposed to such great music,” Kate said. “As well as being surrounded by so many great people who are interested in the same type of music that I am, so I can learn from them and hopefully they learn through me.”

designs by nora lynn & anna mitchell photos by macy crosser

KBy performing for the community, singer and senior Kate Whitefield discovered her interest in Music Therapy, her intended major at Belmont University story by lucy wolf

Having

ON SENIOR JONATHAN Galvin’s 12th birthday, the only thing on his wishlist was a charcoal grill. Toys, money and video games all seemed insignificant to Jonathan, whose true passion was cooking.

“We went to Ace Hardware and bought him a grill [for] his big birthday present,” Jonathan’s mother Carolyn Galvin said. “He just loved the independence of it. He started off doing cooking for the family and making hamburgers, and sometimes steaks and chicken wings. Those were his specialties, he did that a number of times and he did it for even family events.”

Now, he’s committed to Johnson County Community College to continue exploring culinary arts.

Jonathan has been in the kitchen cooking family meals like pasta and other common dishes since he was 7 years old. Around middle school, Jonathan began to see cooking as more than just a hobby, but a possible future career. Jonathan was ready to put the work into his passion, not taking any easy shortcuts.

As his cooking experience continued to grow, Jonathan hoped to expand his passion into paid work — which he found as a pizza chef at Va Bene, a local Italian restaurant. While most chef jobs require those to be 18 with experience, his mom drove to give the restaurant his resume at age 16.

“I walked in there with an application and I met the chef and I shook his hand,” Jonathan said. “I just told him how passionate I was about the job. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and have

loved the team I work with.”

Starting as the pizza chef, he was slowly able to move up and now has been able to learn all different areas of the kitchen. Jonathan says he’s learned things he wouldn’t be able to anywhere else, like the safety measures that come with being in a kitchen with multiple people at a time.

JONATHAN GALVIN

story by christian gooley

Not only did he further his passion for cooking and the art of food at Va Bene, he joined the Center for Academic Achievement’s culinary program his senior year to further his skills like safety measures that need to be taken in the kitchen.

“Jonhathon has grown a lot in his teamwork and technical skills. He came into the program with a ton of passion and has been a great leader for the rest of the students.” Chef Just Hoffman said.

He is very excited and appreciative about the chance to get to go to JCCC and and hopes it’ll prepare him to own his own restaurant in the future.

“Cooking is all about love no matter what. No matter with who it is. Cooking brings people together and it’s all about teamwork.” Jonathan said.

RYDER INGRAM

katie murphy

Coming from a line of first responders, senior Ryder Ingram will pursue firefighting following his graduation

SENIOR RYDER INGRAM’S most crucial final exam of his high school career is at the end of May. But he isn’t poring over textbooks or flashcards to study — he’s mentally preparing to run into and out of a burning building for a

Coming from four generations of first responders, Ingram was practically destined to thrive in emergency situations. He’s now one of seven students graduating from Blue Eagle, the district’s public safety training program at the CAA. After graduation, Ingram plans to move to Thurston, Colorado to stay with his chief firefighter uncle and become a firefighter himself.

“Everyone in the program has to complete the live burn before getting certified,” Ingram said. “I’m never nervous in our other scenarios, but I have a feeling this one might be the scariest.”

He loves going to “class” to participate in scenarios involving crawling through tight crates woven with wires, feeling his way out of pitch-black rooms thick with fog machines, revving chainsaws and slamming down drywall under the supervision of Blue Eagle instructor Ed Morrision.

“Ryder’s been more of the hands-on

type since I’ve known him, which is fitting since firefighters should enjoy being active,” Morrison said. “I foresee him to be an asset to the fire department that he elects to work for.”

Ingram’s been set on fire fighting since age five when his uncle gave him a tour of his Colorado station. After seeing real firefighter gear and trucks for the first time, he was hooked. Since then, he’s been back to visit five times a year.

“There’s a bunch of people that my [uncle] works with that I’ve already met who want me to come out to test for their departments or even get hired on immediately,” Ingram said.

Through Blue Eagle, he’s already learned how to load a hose onto a truck, tie ropes to hoist supplies, operate air packs, attach bunker gear and identify radioactive materials — oh, and fulfilled his five-year-old dream to drive a fire truck.

“During demonstrations with local fire chiefs, I’m always the driver while everyone else jumps onto the truck,” Ingram said. “It’s like driving a super long pickup truck. It feels normal to me because it’s what everyone in my family before me has done.”

Ingram feels lucky to be in SMSD because Blue Eagle is the topranked high school first responder prep program in the state. Morrison has noticed Ingram’s attention to detail improve through high school while he and his classmates grew into a family.

“We were originally going to do our live burn test in December,” Ingram said. “But since I have the latest birthday and was under 18 at the time, I would’ve had to do it alone in the spring. So [my classmates] agreed to wait to do it with me later.”

a strong inclination to cook since early childhood, senior Jonathan Galvin will pursue culinary arts in college

Sydney Nelson is taking a gap year to work in a plant nursery to gain more knowledge on plants before going to get her degree in botany

IT ONLY TOOK one time listening to her cousins read a book about plant language when she was little for senior Sydney Nelson to proclaim her passion for plants.

Sydney is preparing to take a gap year to expand her knowledge of plants and botany, planning to work at a plant nursery to gain more knowledge and experience before going on to get a degree in botany.

Her goal from working at the plant nursery is to better understand plant names and meanings. Connecting these deeper meanings to her own life only furthers her affinity to her plants.

“I love reading about flowers and what they symbolize,” Sydney said. “I’ve always been drawn to plants [and] I’ve always loved flowers.”

Her parents also cultivated her love for nature, taking her on shopping trips to the Family Tree Nursery to geek out over new flowers for the pots around her house and meticulously select new flower seeds to plant at home. Sydney’s favorite thing to plant is flowers, specifically Scabiosas or Hyacinths.

Sydney’s mom Beth Nelson began to see Sydney’s passion for plants when they would go shopping for new plants and

she would ask the workers question after question about plants, itching to know as much as she could.

“She was always asking the person that worked there all kinds of questions about how to make the plants grow, and what soil to get,” Beth said. “She has always been the type of person that if she’s interested [in something], she excels.”

Sydney doesn’t have a set job lined up but plans to get one at the same place she grew up visiting, Family Tree Nursery.

After her gap year, Sydney plans on attending a college to get her degree in botany and securing a job in the plant science field. While not working and gardening, Sydney plans to volunteer, plant trees and build a garden in her mom’s backyard.

Sydney wants to work interactively with the environment, taking active samples of plant life and getting to work in labs with different specimens of plants to take her knowledge to the next level.

“I love watching how plants grow and seeing the colors bloom,” Sydney said. “I like to plant ones that match what I’m feeling or what I want to feel.”

ELIA CASHMAN

story by gracie tackas

Delia Cashman played jazz all throughout highschool, never expecting it would lead her to create a ban and form plans to play in college

WITH A GUITARIST dad and singer mom, senior Delia Cashman has grown up counting beats and picking up the classical violin in fifth grade. But music didn’t truly ignite her passion until she switched to the jazz bass in seventh grade.

Next year, Cashman will be continuing her music career in Kansas City Community College’s jazz classes.

Throughout elementary school, Cashman listened to music for fun but had always envisioned herself as a scientist when she was older, until she decided to pick up jazz in seventh grade — bass specifically.

“I wanted something that would be more challenging,” Cashman said. “I kind of got bored of classical music.”

Her mom Aiken Conrad is surprised that Cashman ended up playing the bass since she didn’t grow up listening to that much jazz, but she’s glad that she found her thing, she’s glad that her daughter did and is happy that she found her thing.

“She grew up in a house full of various kinds of music but oddly not a lot of jazz, except the traditional big band styles,” Conrad said. “I’ve

story

always had a lot of musician friends so it was always a normal part of life.”

Cashman even started her own band, the Whitney Payne Quartet with senior Henry Revare, junior Ruby Wagner and freshman Nash Ohlund this year, after playing on East’s Blue Knights jazz band together.

“I think it’s going to be really sad for us when Delia and Henry go to college,” Ohlund said. “Hopefully we can meet up once in a while and play, it’s definitely going to be a big change for us.”

Despite majoring in emergency medicine, Cashman hopes to balance that and playing bass professionally through KCCC’s music program.

“I’m really hoping I can do both,” Cashman said. “But if it comes down to it, I would quit emergency medicine and pursue jazz. I didn’t want to spend tons of money to get a degree in jazz to teach jazz. I just want to play.”

She also plans on continuing her band in college with her band, the Whitney Payne Quartet, even though they won’t be able to practice together as much. In the meantime, she’s already enrolled in three college jazz classes.

“I’m just putting myself out there,” Cashman said. “That’s really what it takes to get a career in jazz that isn’t teaching. [I’ll go] into different bars, different gigs or jam sessions and say I’m looking to play even if I’m on my own or with a small group.”

by avie koeneman

SENIOR JEANNE ÖZKAN couldn’t survive another year of school, not even another semester. The two years of getting her International Baccalaureate diploma required a 4,000word extended essay, overwhelming math assignments and preparation for 10 days of IB exams. Özkan was in need of a change from their endless cycle of homework, sleep and school.

So after their mom went kayaking with her friend and formerEast parent Susan Newton, a fitting solution was brought up when they discussed AmeriCorps — a nationwide volunteer program run by the federal government.

Newton’s daughter and East alum Alison Gibson participated in AmeriCorps’ basic program — the National Civilian Community Corps — which consisted of about nine months of building community gardens and conducting disaster relief in the Pacific region of the United States.

It was the perfect brain break for Özkan.

When Özkan’s mom came home and told them about the NCCC, they were curious to learn more, so the pair went out to brunch with Gibson and Newton.

“I was like, ‘This sounds perfect for me,’” Özkan said. “And then I met with [Gibson], and [Newton] and we had brunch and

RAYSON KETCHERSIDE

story by luke beil

it lasted for three hours. It was a really long conversation and we just talked about [Gibson’s] experience at AmeriCorps.”

Gibson told them about a project she participated in — building community gardens in Navajo Nation so that the residents could plant their own fruit and vegetables — and Özkan was sold.

“I support [Özkan] so much in doing this that I would do anything to make the experience amazing for them,” Gibson said.

Özkan will be sent to either Denver or Sacramento for a month of training before participating in four eightweek projects such as helping displaced refugees settle into their communities. But beyond the volunteer work, they are looking forward to meeting new people and escaping the world of school.

“I love meeting new people,” Özkan said. “I love putting myself out there, and I’m just so excited to be in this new world where I don’t have a million papers to write and so much homework, but I’m still helping people and making connections.”

EN SMITH

Seniors Grayson Ketcherside and Ben Smith plan to create a nuclear-powered biomedical firm combining their two majors in college

WHEN SENIORS GRAYSON Ketcherside and Ben Smith drove home at midnight from their poker game, they started throwing out ideas and goals for their futures. From wild ideas, like a hospital in space to firing nuclear weapons at the moon, they landed on an idea that seemed far-fetched, but achievable: a biomedical firm powered by nuclear engineering.

As Grayson is pursuing radiology at the University of Missouri and Ben will study Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, the two hope this goal is on its way to

Grayson’s desire to study this topic was sparked by a conversation with a radiologist and colleague of his

“Radiology is a very lenient job compared to most doctors,” Grayson said. “This guy lives in Hawaii for six months of the year with his family and gets to play video games half of the day.”

But it wasn’t just the flexibility that appealed to Grayson. Radiology and early detection can be the difference between treatment and death for those diagnosed with cancer. Grayson wants to make that detection easier and more accessible for patients.

Ben’s love of math and inspiration from his aunt drove his interest in nuclear engineering. Since his aunt worked at a

story by aanya bansal

nuclear power plant, Ben would often get a glimpse of the giant machines and fuel rods behind the scenes. The scope and scale of nuclear power impressed Ben, even as a child.

“What attracted me was how much power was actually there, and how much it’s creating because it powered [almost] an entire county,” Ben said.

Grayson and Ben realized these two interests — radiology and nuclear power — have connections, especially in cancer research. One challenge in battling cancer is the cost associated with treatment through radiological imaging, which allows doctors to detect and then treat cancer with chemotherapy and other methods.

“For some of these less affluent areas, [cancer] can ruin your life in the flip of a switch,” Grayson said. “Most people have to put their entire life savings into this treatment. We would make it cheaper and easier.”

Grayson and Ben’s plan focuses on two innovations. First, a small-scale modularized nuclear reactor that can be built inside a research or treatment center, rather than needing its own facility. Secondly, they would use the nuclear reactor to power the facility and produce key radiation materials to treat cancer.

By reducing costs in overhead, the facility will be able to provide cancer diagnosis and treatment at a much more affordable cost, making treatment more accessible.

“I’m sure there’s tons of biomedical firms where they’re trying to do similar things to us,” Ben said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen nuclear and biomedical combined together so it’d be pretty cool if we were the first.”

Jeanne Ozkan is taking a gap year to join AmeriCorps, a federally-funded volunteer program

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2023

COLORFUL FUTURES

ALABAMA

AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Moore, Wilson

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

Sheets, Ike

ALASKA

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA

ANCHORAGE

Hammond, Grey

ARIZONA

GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY

McKenna, Genesee

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Blades, Sofia

Dunn, Russell

Johnston, Jordan

ARKANSAS

JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY

Montalbano, Brennan

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

Atkinson, Blake

Capstack, Anabel

Coe, Lydia

Cotton, Robbie

Covell, Lucy

Cummings, Jayden

Eby, Samson

Eck, Riley

Holy, Elison

Ireland, Peighton

Jantsch, Evan

Klumpp, Maggie

Lynch, Bella

Parisi, Nick

Sederquist, Zach

Stidham, Aidan

Winter, Emily

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY

Simmons, Lily

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

Brunell-Wright, Alaina

NORTHWESTERN PREPARATORY SCHOOL

McAlister, Colleen

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY

Feigenbaum, Tillie

Stechschulte, Henry

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

Paul, Anohita

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

Chabanis, Tristan

SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE

Robinson, Samantha

COLORADO

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Higgins, Finnian

Kirchhoff, Tyler

Squires, Graham

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

BOULDER

Breier, Ian Pollock, Emily

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

Wurst, Anna WESTERN COLORADO UNIVERSITY

Peters, Caden

FLORIDA

NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA

Roberts, Evyn ROLLINS COLLEGE

McKee, Pierson UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI Sullivan, Fritz

GEORGIA

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Cronenwett, Kate

ILLINOIS

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

Bradley, Ben Galicia, Roberto Kanaley, Caroline

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

Billingsley, Poppy Rogers, Ella Waynick, Lily

Wolf, MJ

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Grieco-Freeman, Rafaela

INDIANA

BALL STATE UNIVERSITY

McShane, Libby

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Arnold, Maxwell Condon, Audrey

Fillmore, Julia

Kaye, Erin

Little, Lucy

Mosher, Graham

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE

UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

Grinstead, Ryan

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Anderson, Natalie

Sufi, Hassan

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

Heitmann, Kate

IOWA

DRAKE UNIVERSITY

Cronin, Mary Garbe, Gretchen

GRINNELL COLLEGE

Divadeenam, Rowan

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Paris, Emma

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA Leonard, CJ

KANSAS

BAKER UNIVERSITY

Whittington, Evan BENEDICTINE COLLEGE

Forsythe, Kennedi BUTLER COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Dilks, Carson Friend, Charles

Laird, Jack CLOUD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Clayton, Luke

EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Abington, Marley Galvin, Anna FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

Griffin, Greta HUTCHINSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Caruso, Cedar JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Allen, Izadora

Attig, Holden Barnes, Brianna Bethay, Charlie Bolinger, Matthew Burdick, Adya Corey, Natalie Cox, Addison Dillman, Dominic Drier, Dawson Ferkenhoff, Nicholas Galvin, Jonathan Gant, Hailey Garcia, Salvador Goldman, Olive Heman, Gabriel Hernandez, Gloria Hill, Abigail Hunter, Madelyne Johnson, Anna Keedy, Jaclynne

Kiel, Jacob Koke, Averi Limanek, Parker Luikart, Emerson Marroquin, Selena Meiners, Alexander Miller, Lydia

Perez-Serrioz, Jose Richardson, Owen Rios-Sauza, Axel Sanchez-Barojas, Allyson Schuessler, Jayden Slaughter, Jack

Smith, Gabrielle

Sparks, Nathan

Stillwell, Jackson

Sublet te, Norah

Torkelson, Zachary

Valdez Gonzalez, Mayved

Verdin, Jacan

Worley, Logan

KANSAS CITY KANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Lukaszewski, Carmen

Cashman, Delia

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Achen, Jade

Ainslie, Melissa

Alferman, No ra

Anderson, Henry

Attebery, Audrey

Baska, Bradley

Beikmann, William

Boren, Ethan

Cameron, Aaron

Carreno, Alex

Cordel, Matthew

Covell, Ellie

Ferguson, Joseph

Ferren, Jack

Hlobik, Isabelle

Hunt, Sophia

Kim, Avery

Kowalik, Khloe

Lynn, Nora

Maisch, Cece

Martin, Parris

Martin, William

Martucci, Matt

McConwell, Sarah

Napier, Kale

Navarro, Suzette

Nyhus, Abby

Oligmueller, Wyatt

Perez, Ariana

Peters, Kyle

Reyes, Amanda

Rodriguez, Ben

Thuenemann, Sabrina

Waters, Thomas

Welch, Elise

West, Andrew

Wheeler, Jennifer

Whitehead, Abigail

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE

UNIVERSITY

Metzger, Sophia

PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY

Coon, Lathen

Dickerson, Greta

McCall, Corbin

Ohlund, Maddux

Smith, Lauren

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

Acton, Bridget

Aiken, Baya

Aikin, Tatum

Akwanka’a, Afa

Alber, Eero

Alexander, Will

Bacon, Harper

Ball, Harper

Bastien, Annie

Beaulieu, Kate

Bettenhausen, Segan

Bihuniak, Emerson

Borthwick, Anna

Bryant, Marin

Burrows, Connor

Curran, Ethan

Davis-Stiles, Ella

Desbois, Olivier

Dorton, Lydia

Fan, Tracy

Faulkner, Brady

Fisher, Luke

Fisk, Phoenix

Fitzgerald, Brynn

Fritz, Sam

Gillis, Jacey

Gilmore, Caleb

Gorman, Caroline

Gowen, Josephine

Griggs, Julie

Groves, Angell

Hans, Mitchell

Hardinger, Joseph

Harrison, Collier

Henzlik, Hudson

Hidalgo, Tanya

Jackson, Cole

Kaneda, Reece

Kerwin, Jolie

Knoff, Grace

Kopp, George

Kounkel, Luke

Leopold, Eddie

Lowrey, Garrett

Marx, Robert

McDonald, Ava

Mong, Dillon

Moore, Peyton

Moore, Savannah

Morehead, Audrey

Patel, Kayaan

Peters, Alexis

Podrebarac, Jacob

Porter, Tristen

Prendiville, Luc

Prosser-Gebhardt, Louis

Pyakuryal, Kabya

Ramirez-Juarez, Cristabel

Reed, Sean

Reed-Schall, Sydney

Reicherter, Luke

Revare, Henry

Riehl, Vivian

Sanders Dawson, Juliette

Sanders Dawson, Marisa

design by greyson imm & katie murphy

FUTURES

Schwarzenberger, Alex

Shelton, Jack

Shroyer, Sophie

Sih, Edward

Simmonds, Isabelle

Snyder, Sophia

Stahl, Christian

Stecklein, Sophie

Steinbrecher, Abry

Stevens, Kira

Thomas, Sneha

Trease, Joey

Tuttle, Brayden

Tyler, Clover

Weeks, JC

Wetzel, Georgia

Winne, Aidan

Wu, Paul

WASHBURN UNIVERSITY

Black, Ava

Faris, Graham

WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY

Radford, Emma

LOUISIANA

TULANE UNIVERSITY

Rice, Jill

MARYLAND

WASHINGTON COLLEGE

Feagans, Will

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Newbold, Michael

MASSACHUSETTS

AMHERST COLLEGE

Stechschulte, Greta

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Birch, Reese

Holzbeierlein, Cate

MICHIGAN

DAVENPORT UNIVERSITY

Fatino, Samuel

MINNESOTA

CARLETON COLLEGE

Bingham, Rachel

Shrock, Willan

Washburn, Rafael

ST. OLAF COLLEGE

Collins, Spencer

MISSISSIPPI

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Benjamin, Piper

Herpich, Samantha

McKee, Georgia

MISSOURI

AVILA UNIVERSITY

Jenkinson, Ethan

CENTRAL METHODIST UNIVERSITY

Wowak, Dalton

KANSAS CITY ART INSTITUTE

Harding, Elise

MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

Rocca, Emily

MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Bounds, Jessica

Holland, Ryan

Holland, Sean

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

Joplin, Blake

Koch, Ashley

Roudebush, Maya

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

Craven, Mason

Guck, Avery

Hill, Dylan

Ketcherside, Grayson

Lindberg, Sophie

Lucas, Grant

Reynolds, Brayden

Sorce, Gianna

Turpin, Morgan

Vogel, Mia

Wood, Caroline

Zwillenberg, Charlie

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI —

KANSAS CITY

Green, Colin

Jones, Brodhay

Manteufel, Grant

Swanson, Abigail

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI —

ST. LOUIS

Hastert, Grace

WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE

Brant, Henderson

WILLIAM WOODS UNIVERSITY

Lawrence, Lilian

NEBRASKA

CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY

Dirks, Lillie

Pearlman, Scarlett

Schirger, Kathleen

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

McDermed, Delaney

NEW HAMPSHIRE

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Stamati, Francesca

NEW JERSEY

STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Slicker, Ben

NEW YORK

ALFRED UNIVERSITY

Sidie, Lola

CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA

Beauchamp, Brooke FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Stein, Abby

THE NEW SCHOOL

Gould, Caroline

NORTH CAROLINA

APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Barbre, Livia

DAVIDSON COLLEGE

Langford, Bryson EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Brame, James ELON UNIVERSITY

Cosgrove, Lyda

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH

CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL

Crosser, Macy Stephens, Coleman

OHIO

DENISON UNIVERSITY

Crosser, Miles

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

Emley, Charlotte

OTTERBEIN UNIVERSITY

Miller, Nicholas

OKLAHOMA

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

Berkley, Eva Dirks, Jake

Gedman, Elle

Keal, Mallory

OREGON

CLACKAMAS COMMUNITY

COLLEGE

Masewicz, Benjamin

PENNSYLVANIA

BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY

Lucas, Jack

RHODE ISLAND

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

Tarpey, Kathryn

SOUTH CAROLINA

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON

Duske, Charlie

Haw, Lily

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Morgan, Milly

The

TENNESSEE

BELMONT UNIVERSITY

Fields, Grace Whitefield, Kate TENNESSEE TECH UNIVERSITY

Connelly, Presley

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

Chapman, Hadley Smith, Benjamin

TEXAS

SOUTHERN METHODIST

UNIVERSITY

Blacketer, Spencer

TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Gogel, Thomas

Mitchell, Anna

Nachtigal, Calleigh

Zadoo, Paige

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Karr, Nicholas

UTAH

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

Haughton, Wyatt

VERMONT

UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

Walton, Bradley

VIRGINIA

HOLLINS UNIVERSITY

Hood, Keely

Suh, Xochitl

WASHINGTON

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Crofoot, Stephen

Hicks, Samuel

McGlynn, Owen

WASHINGTON, D.C.

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Alvey, Alyssa

Cooper, Ava

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Treml, Harold

WISCONSIN

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

Dean, Sabrina

OUTSIDE OF U.S.

QUEENS UNIVERSITY, CANADA

Cowden, Max

GAP YEAR

Boutilier, Aspen

Canady, Ahmon

Carson, Sofie

Freeman, Kurt

Loomis, Jayden

Mancuso, Thomas

Nelson, Sydney

Özkan, Jeanne

Rios, Noah

Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alexis

Shalton, Ian

Wilson, Parker

OTHER INTERNSHIP

Ainslie, Meredith

U.S. MILITARY

Collins, Payton

Thomas, Heath

SMSD POST-HIGH PROGRAM

Baylor-Harness, Cealanda

Rogers, Evelyn

TRAINING FOR WORKFORCE

Taylor, Ethan

WORKFORCE

DePaepe, Anthony

Hendrickson, Matthew

Ingram, Ryder

Lieber, Michael

Meyer-Stroganova, Daniel

Moore, Kanbren

Moren, Charlton

Moulin, William

Turowski, Buddy

William, Zoe

UNDECIDED/ UNKNOWN

Alvarez, Jarik

Baker, Zachary

Breneman, Carter

Brooks, Antonio

Buxton, Alayna

Cifuentes, Anthony

Cress, Nickalus

Escobar-Bowie, Zacarais

Fischer, M

Hense, Elijah

Hutchinson, Chase

Keller, Drew

Kitten, Charles

Murray, Cole

Noland, Margaret

Pauls, Eleanor

Ptacek, Blair

Raile, Owen

Rupp, Delaney

Schmitz, Isabelle

Stry, Daisy

Walters, Mia

Whiteside, Samuel

Class of 2023’s postgraduation plans

2023 HARBINGER CLASS OF AN

back in that moment, I knew that Harbinger would continue to help me grow — as a writer, designer and conversationalist.

From the day I started walking to now as I write my last-ever Harbinger story, I’ve been a conversationalist — chatting up toddlers as I babysit, teachers in the classroom, my best friends to strangers in the line at the airport.

Adults were shocked by my young maturity when my four-yearold, three-foot-tall and bob-and-bang self responded to “How are you little squirt?” with “I’m good, how are you?”

But they shouldn’t have been surprised because I grew up in a house of three older siblings who are six, eight and nine years older. Basically, I was thrown into chaos straight out of the hospital crib. I had no choice but to be dragged along to every rec soccer practice, brutal dentist appointment, long Girl Scout meeting and ice cream social on the Corinth Elementary blacktop.

And it made me talk. All the time. To anyone

15 years later, my chatty childhood has prepared me for an activity that thrives off communication and social butterflies: the newspaper. My talkativeness started to serve a greater purpose,

adjusting for interviews with Kansas politicians, Californian surfers and CEOs.

Rather than getting queasy at the thought of interrogating someone for my next news story, I craved meeting sources with vast backgrounds, hearing the passion that keeps them up at night or the struggle that sends them to bed with aching feet and drooping eyes. My firstever interview during my J-1 class with a fellow student did give me nervous butterflies, but being a part of this publication helped iron out those bumps.

MITCHELL

As I walked into the annual journalism board showcase as a second grader, only really looking at the pictures and snatching candy off tables, I never envisioned myself following both my sisters who had been involved in journalism at East.

Oddly enough, I found myself creating my own work and tri fold board for the past three years — still mainly focused on the candy though. I’ve created friendships in the back room, bonding over the struggles of being a Harbling while eating deadline dinners and facing Tate’s critiques. I’m happy to say Harbinger prepared me for my future and allowed my blabbermouth to be put to good use with the best possible people around me.

designs by peyton moore & francesca stamati

photos by hadley chapman & macy crosser

at my wedding and literally gone by five names. I’ve held my kids steady by their curled fingers as they wobbled their first steps and, years later, nudged them into the doors of their first job. I’ve developed a hell of a scrapbook.

First was my AP Style MD, earned after countless long hours in the operating room (Google Docs). I’ve edited over 300 stories, dissecting each sentence as if five words were life or death. Surgically slicing and operating on paragraphs. Probably using way too many em dashes in the process — but hey, I still passed with a degree in lacerating Oxford commas.

But no memory compares to the waterworks that were shed on my wedding day. The moment I said “I do” to this staff. Hardened by late nights tweaking designs and rewriting drafts, I thought I was incapable of crying until I saw the ring — a golden paper crown too small for my head —

to me three years ago, I would’ve described myself as a Type-A, certified control freak. Every aspect of my life, down to my sock drawer, was organized to a T. If I wasn’t mentally and physically

Color-coded folders organized my school work by subject and chronological order. I started managing my family’s schedule in fourth grade and hung my clothes from most to least worn and color-coordinated them, of course. To say my life wasn’t more organized than The

But four years and 56 issues later, everything’s

If you asked Tate who the talkative girl in the back right table was during Journalism 1, he might compliment my active participation or passionate personality. Now?

He’d call me clumsy, forgetful and a slew of other slightly sarcastic compliments. He’d laugh and say I often have a few screws loose or look like a clown jumping and clapping at the front of the room. My family and friends might say Harbinger’s made me crazy — spending an embarrassing 30-plus hours a week on the publication that fills my drawers and trunk of my

I concoct new words in my rough drafts and await Franny’s amusing disappointment. I’ve converted the J-room into my closet — it steals my water bottles, sweatshirts and lunch boxes more than Addie steals

seriously as I hop around before announcements and trip over two backpacks and three chairs before reaching Sophia for copy editing groups.

I’d like to blame it on Tate and his urge to keep us on our toes. But let’s be real, no jerds (journalism nerds) have color-coordinated closets or alphabetized folders. Harbinger has made me an obsessive font freak (Piepie is a new fav) who could spend more time on InDesign than sleep in a night. A two-week cycle could entail a journalism convention in Philadelphia and learning to sail in the middle of Kansas for a story — barely leaving time to eat or sleep, let alone color coordinate. Nowadays, deep breaths and Sunday resets are about as rare as an exclamation point in Tate’s critiques.

I move a million miles a minute, running from the library to my desktop and back on deadlines and belting out Pitch Perfect riff offs while editing spread. But my life’s less serious, more chaotic and a lot more fun. I’ve stopped agonizing over any small pieces of my life that are out of place because it’s less stressful to be a mess. If I didn’t crack my NSPA plaques by accidentally

hands through summer boot camps before launching them into the open waters of the first print cycle — like teaching babies to swim, the old-fashioned way. But the real gift of parenting has been watching Katie and Greyson pen stories that make my jaw drop and mind soar. My pride for this staff’s award-winning feats matches that of a smug parent whose kid won the spelling bee.

After all of that, I dare anyone to tell me I’m just 18 years old. Evolving through 56 cycles of issues with deadlines that have stretched well past 4 a.m. has earned me the right to count my years on a two-week calendar. Brainstorm. Work week. Deadline. Repeat.

You could say it’s been the story of my life.

Consider this string of hyperboles my multilifetime autobiography, and know that if I could live it all over again, I simply wouldn’t have the stamina — but I sure love the drama of reminiscing.

FRAN

STAMATI

age 8, I was consuming Harbingers at the same rate as American Girl Doll Magazines. Each issue was a surprise to see what the staffers cooked up, and the political opinions and features were much more interesting than the stationery and bedding sets in the catalogs I usually read with my cereal.

And after seven years of subscriptions, you’d think that once I joined Harbinger, everything would be a bore — my older sister’s stories from staff prepared me for the deadline panics and the Dallas bus-rides. I’d practically heard – and read – it all.

But luckily, I’m still on my toes. For the past four years, I’ve edited or docstalked nearly every story and seen the designs printed out and in the works on InDesign. Now, the surprise wasn’t in the pages but in the places I ended up.

After all, how can something stay boring when you put 80 high schoolers in one room and give them Chick-fil-A? Or when Greyson starts scaling the side of the library outer-wall? While half-harmonizing Pitch

through the doors of room 413B for the meet-the-staff pizza party, I’d never felt less prepared in my life. The editors accidentally made me a staff artist, not a writer. I only saw five familiar faces. Before I could catch a breath, along came the icebreaker question: “If you went to jail for a crime, what would it be?”

Introverted, freshman-me clung to each answer from the circle of 60 staffers and intimidating upperclassmen, prepared for this.

I mumbled my crime — something about being framed for committing tax evasion with a nervous laugh — and hurried out. At least I had winter break to mentally prepare for this new role, right? How naive of me. Little did I know the school newspaper would soon suck away every ounce of my free time, winding me up in a fair share of “how-did-I-get-here?”

Like my first edit from Tate that sent me into a spiral at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday night in Celia Condon’s kitchen, questioning my entire writing ability and existence. Or when I sobbed in front of 40 people at the “haunted” Eastern State Penitentiary — a tourist stop on our Philadelphia convention trip — after a zombie on roller skates

But unexpected lows were balanced with moments of comedic relief. Like throwing

pennies on Benjamin Franklin’s grave during a two-hour Philadelphia walking tour between journalism classes. Or spinning in the Westin Hotel’s revolving doors and attempting to do the splits on the Crown Center escalator, recreating scenes dressed as Buddy the Elf for a YouTube video.

I lured fellow jerds into the J-Rave mosh pit at the Dallas convention, gripping my obnoxious metallic pink cowgirl hat. Choked down soggy Jimmy John’s lettuce wraps and Cane’s “naked bird” at deadline dinners — the only glutenfree options. Wrote a review on the Psychic Fair and was told I was an Egyptian Slave in my past life and would become TikTok famous — still waiting on that.

The best, sometimes worst, but always unforgettable memories often happen when you’re not prepared for them... at all. No amount of pre-written interview questions, practicing how to talk to a government official or outfits I packed for conventions could ever really prepare me.

And despite drafting this inevitable senior column in my Notes app for three years, jotting down memories that shoved me into humility and molded my character, I don’t feel prepared to write it.

I’m certainly not prepared to move 853 miles across the country to North Carolina in three months, but if Harbinger has taught me anything, along with AP style and an aversion to Oxford Commas, it’s that I don’t have to be — and sometimes can’t be — prepared to create a lifetime of inside jokes and unexpected memories.

Perfect riff-offs in a pod as we were launching up into the St. Louis arch? Unpacking over 50 cans of LaCroix to form one mega-review of 24 flavors? Harbinger was one big try-notto-laugh challenge and I managed to fail every time.

KA HEITMANN TE

Soon I’ll go back to not knowing what to expect when I open up the site. But I’m not surprised that I’m going to miss Harbinger, it provided me with more entertainment than anything else. But it also taught me the importance of relationships and good old-fashioned grit when things got tough — things that I couldn’t have learned from reading it over the years.

To Lyda, Carog and Carow, I’m not sure what you guys will do without my bi-weekly, 3-hour-long monologues broken with my five-minutes-of-silence times (a.k.a. deadline), but I bet you’ll get at least a bit more work done — just don’t be too productive!

Even as a ten-year Harbinger super-subscriber, it’s weird knowing I’ll no longer have a behind-the-scenes look. Even so, I’m beyond excited for what is to come and I would not have been able to tackle it all without everything I learned from Harbinger.

CARO LINE GOULD

HAVE YOU EVER heard of a critique ? No? Hah. Imagine pouring your soul into a story, laying out your most opinionated opinion or condensing someone’s life into 800 words, only for that story to be crushed in one of Tate’s 50-pagers.

Forget the times I’ve broken my nonchalant persona to curl up in a fetal position on my bedroom floor in tears — today I’m feeling vengeful.

This is my last chance to make my journalism teacher of four years “want to pull out his hair” over my words — I’m not gonna waste that.

“Generally question leads are just cop outs.. I’m not sure these do much. I wonder how many No’s you’ll get.”

And look at that. The first sentence of this story? A question. It doesn’t matter if you said “no,” because I’m about to show you what a critique is.

“It’s just info tossed there.”

Fine, so maybe this story is just me tossing out random chunks of critique comments that I spent an hour sifting through. And maybe I’ve accidentally done that in a story or two… or more.

“So what’s your hook for this story? I don’t think you built enough of one.. We have a lot of successful parents.. So what sets their story apart?”

This was referencing a story I wrote about an East parent, and honestly, I don’t know what sets their story apart. I thought it was their entrepreneurial passion, but I guess not. So now I’m thinking, will someone wonder this about me someday? What will set my writing career apart? And then who will critique me?

“You didn’t really weave the story together very well. When you could have had a nice story here. Instead you have these cool pieces but that’s kind of what they are.. Pieces.”

This one broke me. I never cry, but I’ll admit I ugly cried I took a break from writing and rereading that story to find how those pieces weren’t connected. I couldn’t do it anymore.

But next year I’ll be in New York City studying journalism, and I know I’ll have a professor or editor break my soul through their commentary on my work once again. Tate, at that point, I’ll miss you and your persistent constructive criticism.

But there’s a reason I’ve stuck with The Harbinger: I’ve always been able to move on. I used to get a D on a test and give up for the rest of the semester. But with any story that’s chopped back up into words by Tate, I’ve brushed it off, since he’s given me endless chances to do better.

And for that, maybe I’ll miss my taste of personal hell — critique

strutted into my first brainstorm ready with a list of three potential pitches... all of which were immediately snatched up or shot down. I watched silently as the news and feature slots filled up. Minutes later, only one section was left — opinion.

I hated the idea of writing an opinion. I’m just not an overly opinionated person, at least not in a publish-a-700-word-rant type of way. After a desperate brainstorm on my sister’s bed, I decided to preach “the power of lists.”

I adore lists, crafting them for any idea or task in a series over two. The story’s page design even mirrored my florallined stationery.

But don’t get me wrong, I hated everything about the story.

The cycle was rough from the first day, followed by an overwhelming writing process, met with “add more voice” comments that just made it cheesy — plus, who doesn’t love a bizarre Pompeii analogy! I’ve gone to delete it before but couldn’t bring myself to click “trash.” The story marked the start of my Harbinger career, and its actual content was so formative to that career.

As fast-paced cycles rolled by, I clung to my lists to keep myself organized — whether that be a general to-do list, page brainstorms or my seemingly-bottomless edit list.

Three years and 68 stories later, opinions still haven’t grown on me. Even my ideas for this column felt forced — until I made a list.

I’m not kidding. Instinctively, I grabbed my floral notepad

as I do every issue, freezing when I saw the single sheet left. That notepad had lasted me four years of edit lists, homework lists, pack lists — you name it, I listed it — and now I’m on my

That single page transported me to my first issue, reminding me how far I’ve grown as the notepad dwindled. That cycle was a chaotic disaster, but I survived. There have been plenty of disasters since, but — with the help of a list — I’ve always pulled it together and made the deadline. It’s only fitting that I finish my last cycle with the final sheet.

Finding sanity through lists has helped me survive 56 issues, allowing me to grow and balance Harbinger with my life outside of the backroom. Despite me loathing my first story, that somehow-900word rant became the mantra for my Harbinger experience.

So for one last Harbinger list, I’d like to thank...

- My co-staffers, for making me laugh on the bleakest of deadlines

- My sister, for being my rock one door down - Tate, for teaching me so much in so few words

- Lastly, the experience, because each story helped me build who I am today — even those stupid little freshman-year opinions.

I’VE ALWAYS LOVED roller coasters. The ones with loops and unexpected turns make me a little queasy, but once the ride’s over, I’m filled with adrenaline and want to go again. When I got to high school, I was met with one of the scariest and most thrilling roller coasters I’ve ever experienced: The Harbinger

Walking into 413B on my first day of high school for J1, I met Tate. I’d been warned that I would develop a “lovehate” relationship with him and that it was “ impossible to get an A.” Sitting in the back row, it felt like I was in a roller coaster car, slowly ticking to the top of the first hill with the unknown tracks below. The semester began and I found my way through my first feature story, page design and interview lectures.

The first drop wasn’t that bad — I was ready to apply for The Harbinger.

Second semester I joined the staff as a photographer. I learned the basics and worked to become the best I could be. There were some slight turns and small hills, but overall the ride was smooth — until second semester sophomore year. I started to feel that slow climb again as I realized my goal: Head Editor. I stepped into a conference room with the Head Photo Editors to interview for the assistant position.

I was still climbing.

They announced my name at the end-of-year banquet as one of three assistant editors for the next year. I grabbed the safety bar.

Still climbing.

I watched Maggie and Elise closely throughout the next year, observing their tasks and making notes on how to run

most memorable photos I’ve taken was at my twin brother’s first game back from his knee injury. Against the odds, he scored a penalty kick that sent the packed bleachers into a frenzy. He ran over to our family and friends, fists pumping in the air.

Look closely and you can pick out my mom, his best friend and the crowd’s genuine reactions — screaming, pointing, clapping, cheering him on. It was already unforgettable, but now it’s a memory that hangs in his

And in that moment, I saw my photos as a gift to

Without my Nikon Z6II, I wouldn’t be able to share moments like these. As a photographer, photos are my words, and I’ve learned to convey the stories and passions that drift through the halls of East.

September 16. It’s Lancer Day, and I’m squished against a table in front of a crowd of the entire school. Senior boys pound on tables on the most spirited day of the year. Never had I been around this much enthusiasm. My head still pounds thinking about the roars and stomping feet. If the sweaty crowd photos I captured don’t encapsulate our student body’s energy, then I

February 12. Crowded inches from the TV screen, my eyes are focused in my viewfinder instead of on the

the photography staff, knowing this would be my job the following year. Still. Climbing.

You know that feeling when you go on a ride and think you’re past the scary part only to be met with a peak twice as high and you realize the ride hasn’t really even begun?

Chiefs kicking the game-winning field goal of Super Bowl LVll. For the second world championship win of my high school career, I capture 30 high schoolers tearing through the streets of Prairie Village in celebration. Even though I’m out of breath from sprinting to keep up, it earns me the shots that capture the pride of being a Chiefs fan.

April 5. Students swarm out of class in the National Anti-Gun Violence Walkout. As my peers protest the fear for their safety they feel at an American high school, I capture their surge of emotion with my close-up lens. You can see it in their eyes — the story is always in the eyes.

I always tell people this, but pictures tell stories that words can’t always convey. Every Snapchat memory, Instagram story or camera-taken photo has a memory attached. That’s why photos are so vital in my life. They scrapbook every little detail and memorable moment so I can look back and laugh, smile or cry like I’m still there.

HAD LEY CHAPMAN

A year later I accepted my position of Head Photo Editor. Summer started and the responsibilities came hurtling toward me — assign cameras to all 30 photographers, organize a checkout system, go to Dallas for leadership classes, strategize how to revamp the entire publication, put a plan in place to train new members.

I’d reached the bottom of the tallest peak. The school year hadn’t even started.

Next came the jerky turns and vortexes. We made it through with little conflict until applications opened for second semester. We had no room to accept new staffers and keep all of our current photogs. After a lengthy interview process, we had our staff to successfully finish out the year.

The coaster car is slowing down now and I can see the exit platform ahead of me. After all of the dizzying loops and unexpected plummets, I’m anxious to get off. But I know the second I step out, I’ll turn and look back at the ride — and wish I could do it all over again.

us, you found the other.

Each weekend was a trade off between houses as if we were siblings with divorced parents. Our first mancala tournament, first summer camp dance, first choreographed talent show performance — all spent together. We spent the first decade of our friendship like the twins from “The Shining,” so it makes sense that we also sat hip and hip on our first Harbinger deadline.

Like always, we quickly established a single identity — both quiet, strangely intimidating and struggling to muster the courage to interview as new staff writers. We existed only to be the PB to the other’s J.

We liked it like that. The idea of splitting the sandwich toppings was terrifying. But Harbinger has a way of launching you into your fears. But in finding our individual personalities, we didn’t grow apart, we just grew up.

Staff moves too fast to waste time in jobs you don’t enjoy. Halfway through junior year, we both finally knew what we wanted out of the experience. Soph became a Copy Editor and Nora went all in on design.

I’VE ALWAYS HAD a competitive spirit. It’s born into me – my mom was a varsity dancer at SM Northwest and my sister was a three-sport varsity athlete who now plays D1 volleyball. I didn’t join Harbinger to become an “art kid,” I joined to submit to contests and win at photo regionals and state.

I was here to win. Within my first month on staff, I was bombarded with a host of Tate’s Canvas announcements for photo contests and their deadlines. Instead of being overwhelmed, I reminded myself that this is exactly why I joined.

My first time shooting tennis, I perched from the top of the bleachers for what I thought could be some award-winning action shots. But my photo editor urged me to approach the fence. Nervously, I inched toward it, unsure of the etiquette to shoot tennis. Would I get yelled at for being so close? After three hours of shooting, I found a single picture I deemed “good” — and reused it for every contest the next three months.

I placed in one of the contests, but I didn’t win. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with my photos but I knew that I needed to

As Tate presented photo shows of “the best of the best”

pictures from Harbinger and Hauberk over the years, I finally understood why I wasn’t placing: In comparison to the variety of lenses, angles, and context shown in those pictures, mine had little context or creativity.

I hadn’t realized how much preparation goes into great photos — hours spent scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration, determining the best equipment to suit the shoot, learning the story and setup and finally, creating my own style. I’d only win the competition if I used composition, using context and unique angles rather than a shot anyone would think to get.

Instead of standing straight up, snapping only action shots, I hunted for emotion and connection in the people I photographed, dropping to the ground and climbing up onto a ladder or chair. The anticipation in a football receiver’s face as the ball came flying toward them or the smiles from a freshman participating in her first SHARE event in the cafeteria fueling my passion. After reaching out to those involved in the story to learn more about the event, it didn’t matter as much to me if the picture only won an honorable mention — which I used to think of as a participation award — because the story became more important than the award.

I’ve found passion in creating art to tell stories that mean something. Rather than looking toward the game winning shot, I

Ever since the Harbinger trip to Los Angeles that Soph testifies was the best week of her life, she has been on a fast track to the LA Times newsroom, awaiting her chance to travel the world and tell stories. Even though LA is the bane of Nora’s existence, she’ll take road trips to California every two weeks if it means getting to see Soph.

As for Nora, Harbinger helped her dig a niche for herself at East through design and art, even being commissioned for a couple of school-related designs based on her work. Her advertising projects in college and beyond will likely be getting a Soph edit before anyone else.

The confidence that Harbinger taught us allowed us to stop relying so heavily on the other. We could be the best waffle making duo without having to prove it to ourselves.

Now, we’re comfortable sitting all the way across the room from each other at deadlines. But at 9 p.m. when everyone goes home, Nora still hijacks Soph’s basement to hangout. And every time, Soph’s dad calls “Hey Nora!” from the couch as we walk through the front door, knowing she’s there without turning around.

No matter how far apart we sit on deadline nights, how busy we get with separate projects or how different our goals become, we’ll always end up together — or at least mocking each other across the J-room.

MIA

NOVEMBER 17, 2021 — smeharbinger.net’s most-visited day of all time, thanks to my article. “Parting with Potato Soup” is now at 32,372 views and counting, securing its spot amongst the top three most popular Harbinger stories ever.

I haven’t shut up about it since.

The 300-word online rant about Panera taking their potato soup off the menu currently has the most clicks of any story published in the last five years. It’s no exaggeration when I tell you this is my life’s greatest accomplishment.

I know that sounds extreme, but c’mon, I was the girl who got a freaking C in J-1! Freshman year Mia never would’ve seen this coming. She’d hit the floor upon hearing that I’ve survived on staff these past three years, let alone earned an editorial position and a wall full of awards.

Now, I’m not saying it’s all been glitter and sunshine. My first few months were a tragedy — attempting to navigate the ins and outs of Adobe coupled with the torture of WebEx deadlines was enough to make me consider

quitting when I’d barely started. It wasn’t until I began writing reviews that I realized I stood a chance.

I found my niche, nestled between the feature and sports sections. I’ve written on everything from the latest music to the many uses of matcha tea powder and am often referred to as the “Queen of A&E.”

The power of infusing my writing with voice and approaching the work with excitement made me realize I have a passion for experiencing and critiquing new things — maybe I’m just a gifted complainer.

Forgive me for being so sappy, but my time on staff has been a transformative experience. I’ve gone from being the scared little freshman slumped at the table in the back of the J-room to the bubbly senior who’s probably singing along to Taylor Swift way too loud in the back room. It’s given me a sense of purpose and community throughout high school, but much like Panera’s retired potato soup, I’ll have to part ways with Harbinger and move on to my next comforting hyperfixation.

Despite being totally burnt out and putting everything till the last minute before deadline — including this column — a little part of me is going to miss the wonderfully frantic energy of the J-room, the endless text spam of “can you edit??” or “how does this insta post look?” and, of course, the infamous jouch. Harbinger has gifted me the greatest friendships, a large chunk of my personality and a minor — but by no means insignificant — claim to fame.

All in all, my time on Harbinger has been just like my potato soup story — unexpectedly successful.

“JOINING HARBINGER GAVE me a second family.” God, here come the floodgates.

As I sat down on a Tuesday night at 9:55 p.m., I couldn’t write a single sentence without hysterically bawling. A week before my last ever Harbinger deadline *blubbers* I decided exactly what I wanted to write about: gaining a family through a high school newspaper staff. At least I thought I knew.

But looking at my keyboard covered in tears and snot over a single sentence, I realized that wasn’t the goodbye I wanted to give or the lesson I truly learned.

Three years ago you couldn’t catch me dead expressing emotion or leaning on others for help. Ever.

Joining Harbinger, I was terrified of a senior tearing apart my social media posts or — even scarier — Dow Tate shredding my story to bits. So my mantra was: “Show no emotion and whatever you do, don’t ask for help.” Showing weakness? Please.

However, this mantra bit me in the butt. Hard. In simple terms, my work kind-of-really sucked. Seriously, never read a story I wrote my sophomore year.

But in my junior year, I realized I had to step it up if I wanted to flourish on Harbinger.

I wrote spread over male body dysmorphia finally getting several Tate edits, asked my social media editor Sophie Henschel for new Instagram posts to

make so I could be appointed to Assistant Social Media Editor, watched dozens of InDesign tutorials about curving text, texted my editors at least five times a day about the nitty gritty of AP style so I could become a copy editor and even took on the role of page designer. *Exhale*

With these new roles and responsibilities came new emotions. I interviewed people about dreams they were pursuing, swallowing the lump in my throat. I stared at Tate’s edits manically laughing and crying. I screamed into my pillow because I couldn’t figure out how to organize a sidebar for the hundredth time. All these emotions I talked about? Yep, they finally seeped in.

But after, I’d FaceTime my support systems Anna and PMO for design help, I’d text Chez to help decipher Tate’s edits and I’d FaceTime Ben to simply scream and rant. I’d text just about everyone on staff for help, to listen to me ramble, to make me feel better and keep me sane — something my sophomore self never would’ve expected.

Because Harbinger of course gave me a second family — ugh I’m taping my tear ducts at this point — but it also taught me to ask for help, lean on others and use my resources because how else would I flourish and succeed bubbling it all in.

ZADOO

TRIS TAN CHABANIS

BROTHERHOOD — BOYS BONDED by a common interest. It can mean bonded by anything — from watching “Kung Fu Panda” to pickle-eating competitions. For us, the brotherhood was created

We joined Harbinger the second semester of junior year. Outnumbered in a class filled with 68 girls, we were forced to build a relationship that we hope will continue

For both of us, Harbinger has been painful. We’ve watched our grades drop each semester and cringed while Tate grilled us critique after critique. Together, we have anxiously awaited the end of each semester to see the flood of grades entered in Skyward rise back up to an A. After several arduous issues and less-than-enjoyable deadlines, it’s obvious that the writing hasn’t been the best part of

In reality, it’s been the brotherhood that we’ve developed throughout the past three

semesters. Sharing a common interest through sports made conversations flow easier and friendships form effortlessly. We intensely debated sports topics from professional soccer to East sports with juniors Luke Beil and David Allegri, forming a bond that we both hope will carry on after the 24 issues spent together.

In between hunting for edits during deadlines, we spent hours in the conference room, laughing about inappropriate jokes, discussing our love lives or getting a fourth chocolate chip cookie.

Harbinger has allowed us to explore topics, such as whitewater kayaking and band, that we never would have gravitated towards in the first place. Throughout the long and grueling cycles, we have greatly improved our writing skills and made acquaintances of an extremely diverse group of people.

These valuable skills will stay with us for whatever comes next. Our post college plans range from being a businessman to an immunologist — both of which are about as far as it gets from journalism. But the valuable skills attained through the hours spent writing and interviewing will help us in our future endeavors.

So although we haven’t had a great time writing, editing and voting on the editorial board, we have definitely formed relationships that we will both cherish for time to come.

I DISCOVERED A love for art through my mom. Being an art teacher for 13 years, I’d spend my afternoons with her making any and everything, from paintings to intricate drawings. Growing up, her art room was my heaven. Every marker shade you could imagine, all of the paper, paints, oil pastels — I was constantly in awe.

On the weekends, I practically lived in art museums. I used to find them boring, but over the years of maturing I’ve found an appreciation for all the days she would take me there, able to see all of the absolutely beautiful exhibitions of artworks from all across the world.

With my love for art, I’ve wanted to join Harbinger since my first day of freshman year. However, I second-guessed myself every time I looked at the application — scared I wasn’t good enough. Even the doors of the journalism room intimidated me — I practically froze before reaching for them.

Over winter break of junior year, I tried drawing digitally for the first time on a new ipad. I fell in love with it, because of its simplicity and flexibility. Every chance I had I would try to perfect my skills through hours of doodling, watching tutorial videos on Youtube and practicing new techniques.

After some tough convincing from both my

mom and friends at the end of junior year, I submitted my Harbinger application. Pressing the submit button for the application has been one of the best decisions I’ve made throughout my high school experience; not pressing it sooner is still my biggest regret.

At the time my post college plans consisted of going to med school. Even though I hated math and loved making art, I was convinced that I couldn’t make a career out of being creative for a living.

Wow, did Harbinger change my mind.

Through learning Adobe as a page designer and continuing to work on Procreate, I have grown my clothing business, Adya B + CO, as well as changed my career path to User Experience design — the process of creating products that are efficient and easy to use for consumers.

From the design skills I’ve learned to the late nights spent crying over InDesign not saving my pages, I am forever grateful for the time I’ve spent in room 413-B and how it’s benefitted my life post-high school more and more every issue.

BRADLEY

“YOU’RE NOT GOING to get very far in life if you quit everything,” my father told me when I quit soccer, tennis, ice-skating, National Charity League and swimming in the span of 6 months. Oh, and golf. Whatever, dad. *Eye roll.*

When I’m not immediately good at something, my first instinct has always been to quit. I’d rather not partake in something at all than embarrass myself trying to learn it. But when I told my counselor how miserable I was within the first two weeks of Harbinger, she told me I’d have to stick it out until the end of the semester before dropping it.

When I joined the staff the first semester of this year, I was a senior learning next to freshmen. All of my senior friends knew exactly what they were doing, but I — a first-year — did not.

So I forced myself to cry through Francesca edits and consume hours of YouTube InDesign tutorials.

But hey, no pain no gain, right?

Turns out, practice really does make perfect. My designs improved astronomically thanks to the extra InDesign usage I got when my entire page was lost on deadline (This happened twice. Don’t forget to save your work, kids). Texts from copy editors that used to be “You need a Tate edit” shifted to “So good! I loved your story!”

I found some weaknesses — features, news,

EM POLLOCK

ILY

OUR FRIENDSHIP CENTERED around couches long before the “jouch.” We first met on our kindergarten recreational T-ball team — where we tossed sand more than practiced — and plopped down on a couch at the team banquet for the first time together.

After that, our eyes always searched for a place to sit. At any gathering, you’ll find us splayed out on the couch, dishing out gossip. While the common folk wonder what we’re discussing with serious expressions and folded arms, they’ve learned that they cannot sit with us.

We were two peas on a couch — until Emily deviated by joining Harbinger freshman year. Naturally, Ben followed.

That’s when we discovered the jouch (journalism-couch). Junior year, it was considered an honor to sit on because it symbolized our transition to upperclassman. Sure, it had a huge hole and was probably infested with hairballs, deadline dinners, lost phones and the entire Chick-Fil-A menu. But we accepted her flaws because the jouch was home.

sports and stories of that nature. But I also discovered my strengths — opinions, art and design. Contradicting Tate’s famous advice of “Make yourself marketable,” I stuck to my strengths.

Harbinger didn’t just teach me graphic design and grammar. It taught me how to write an entire story on my phone as I was on vacation because my computer was blocking everything (Thanks SMSD, and thank you Lyda for posting that story for me — I owe you). It taught me how to survive a finals week deadline, all while having the flu. It taught me how to handle Tate’s critique of my news briefs — it was absolutely brutal, by the way.

Harbinger taught me grit — to stick with something even though it’s frustrating and makes you want to throw your MacBook across Maggie Kissick’s basement at writer’s deadline.

Although I’m just a measly first-year, you should take it from me — stick with it. Harbinger totally sucks, but has been the most rewarding thing I could have done. My only regret is that I didn’t start my freshman year.

most of our Harbinger hours and deadlines chatting and working on our new throne. We accepted the role as king and queen, always keeping the jouch in pristine condition — well, as clean as it could be. It became our duty to ensure the leather sides didn’t peel off, the hole didn’t rip more and that it was sittable for the next class period.

But as the months passed, the jouch’s holes deepened, with chunks of leather tearing off and exposing the filling. Despite our efforts, our throne was decaying — disappearing just like our time in high school.

It was time for a new, nicer jouch. We still remember the day that we came to class to see our jouch replaced. Who was this imposter? No lumpy sides to accidentally slip off of, no holes in the cushions to swallow our phones. What was the appeal? With the old couch that we had grown to love being tossed out, it was becoming more clear that our time together was coming to an end.

Reluctantly, we learned to love it anyway. After realizing how much the old jouch meant to us, we knew we had to give its replacement a chance. We finally gave in and regained our titles of jouch royalty.

In college, we won’t be able to sit on the jouch every day, but that won’t be a problem. We’ll plop on a couch 13 hours and 56 minutes away from each other and facetime while random roommates walk bye and realize that they will never understand our inside jokes.

I’VE NEVER ENJOYED making impromptu decisions, usually opting to schedule my plans weeks in advance. So when fellow-photog Hadley suggested I join Harbinger a day before the application was due, I laughed in her face.

With no journalistic experience and lacking skills that others learned in J-1, I was unqualified. There was no way I could do something this spontaneous.

But somehow I found myself anxiously submitting an application by 11:59 p.m. that night — and I haven’t regretted it since.

Thanks to Harbinger, I’ve learned to take risks. At first, I clung to what was easy: shooting basketball or soccer. But when posed with the challenge of shooting swim for

“GET INVOLVED” WAS the most common piece of advice I heard from upperclassmen as a freshman. My older sister Ashton took that advice and joined the National Charity League, lacrosse and Student Store. Following in her lead, I did the same – I had a carbon copy of her schedule. But she didn’t join journalism. Growing up, I always looked up to my sister and wanted to be just like her, but when I got to high school, I wanted something that finally made me different — so I joined The Harbinger.

COE LYDIA ECK RILEY

WHETHER IT’S WITH my phone camera, Snapchat or even a disposable camera, I’ve always loved taking photos. Capturing moments of me and my friends, everything from firepits to traveling the world — I love it.

When I joined Harbinger, I was nervous that I wouldn’t get the photos my editors wanted or that I wouldn’t be fit as a photographer. Luckily, being on staff is about learning new skills.

Taking photos came easy to me — or so I thought. After shooting my first basketball game, I went to the j-room eager to show Tate my photos.

I’VE SPENT MY whole life trying to be in charge.

I crave control — Mercedes knows to find me when she needs something done meticulously in Student Store. So, naturally, I applied to every leadership position offered my senior year: SHARE Exec, Student Store manager, Link Crew leader. But when it came to Harbinger, I never intended to be in a leadership position — opting to take the backseat where I could listen to photo editors’ ramble of tips and absorb Tate’s monthly photoshows.

I spontaneously joined Harbinger going into my junior

a story, I hesitated, but thought, why not?

My first semester on staff, I was given the opportunity to take on a bigger challenge. When Peyton came up to me and said the photo I took for a normal feature page had been moved to spread, I panicked. I’m only a firstyear . The focus is off. That photo isn’t good enough.

I doubted myself, but when the paper came back a week later with “photo by Julia Fillmore,” I realized that photo was good enough.

Two years later, I’m thankful that Harbinger consistently took me out of my comfort level and pushed me to keep believing in myself. Whether a first-year photographer or the Head Print Editor, Harbinger can push anyone to be their best self.

It was the first activity that set us apart. I started as a photographer barely knowing what a Nikon was or how to open Photoshop. But by meeting other photographers at conventions, I learned to show emotion through photos, tell a visual story and develop a strong portfolio — something my sister never did.

Two and a half years later, I’m going to the same college as my sister — shocker. But I’ll enter knowing how to use that Nikon and a rainbow of Adobe products. Just like I found my niche in high school, I can confidently join the photography club, interview peers or score an internship in the next four years.

They were better than anything in my camera roll, that’s for sure. I was waiting for approval from Tate that everyone claims is so hard to get. These photos would get me that, or so I thought.

Tate hated them.

“Crop this. This one’s blurry. No facial expression. Too basic...”

He went on and on.

Apparently my f-stop was too high and ISO was too low — whatever that meant. The main person was off center, the ball was blurry. Basically none of them were going in the gallery. Awesome

Three semesters later, I have learned that good things take time and there is always room for improvement. To my younger photographers, keep on trying, learning and doing what you love! Tate’s approvals will come, eventually.

year — possibly the busiest year of my life, so why not add another commitment to my plate? But as a beginner photographer, I had no obligations beyond getting my three credits every two weeks.

Without the added pressure of leading and expectations from others and myself to be the best, photography developed into something I genuinely enjoyed doing. It was something that didn’t need to be perfect, something I didn’t feel the urge to have complete control over.

Photography was my escape from perfection.

Not everything has to be about being the best or being in control. Life is more fun when you’re dealing with the unknown, and photography became my outlet to explore it.

CHARLOTTE

LYDIA

IMAGINE BEING WITH the same person every day — same classes, activities and friends. From Second Best Coffee runs before school to evening study sessions, we spend a minimum of 50 hours a week together. You’d think that at this point, we’d hate each other.

Our bond dates back to freshman year, where we became mutual friends through Lancer Dancers. When COVID-19 hit, our devoutly liberal parents enrolled us in 100% online school for sophomore year. By being a part of the few still at home, we spent every day on FaceTime, evolving our friendship through catching up on recent drama and finishing AP European History homework. Our similar try-hard school outlook led us to make an awful decision: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

After both receiving a D on our first IB math test, we knew we’d need each other as motivation to succeed. Our list of shared activities grew— we became Link Crew leaders, SHARE chairs and recreational soccer players. We really thought there wasn’t any more time in the day we could spend together — until Sabrina convinced Ava to join her only solo activity: Harbinger.

As a rookie staffer, Ava was overwhelmed by the world of InDesign and story ideas. Sabrina introduced her to Harbinger norms, such as biweekly deadlines and the fact that Tate might never learn her name (he did, thankfully). From the J-Rave in Dallas to the miserable drive out to Olathe North to broadcast a basketball game, the chaos and hours spent in the J-room were a refreshing change in the course of our friendship. Granting us the chance to let loose and use our creativity in a school setting for

the first time, we were provided a new perspective of high school.

Though we have different positions on staff, we still always end up collaborating together. Anytime a quick mug is needed, Sabrina snaps it for Ava’s design. If Sabrina is struggling to navigate InDesign, Ava is right there to fix her mistakes.

Harbinger forced us to see all sides of each other, even when Ava was stressed about finding photos for Sports Highlights or Sabrina’s lack of creative story ideas. By forcing Sabrina to come to every writer’s night or deadline, even though she didn’t have to, we grew close with each other and the rest of the staff.

Room 413B will always be a second home after spending hours in the back room rotting on the jouch. In three short months, our interactions will return to the COVID-era FaceTime calls. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again— even with 842 miles between us.

COOPER AVA BLADES

OK, MAYBE I was a Harbinger hater during my freshman and sophomore years. Maybe I opened an issue every once in a while and pointed out every misspelled word, and maybe I disagreed with an editorial story every once in a while. But you know the whole “Jealousy is the root of all evil... blah blah blah” — I get it. I was most definitely wrong and extremely jealous.

In a friend group full of journalism-obsessed freaks, I couldn’t help but cringe at talks of “deadline” or even the mention of whatever a “jouch” was. But as much as it pains me to say, the J-room freaks were right — extremely hard to believe that I would be wrong about anything, right?

I’ve always been a little more right-brained than I’d like to admit, but taking a minimum of one art class a semester is something I’ve prided myself on.

But my main creative outlet has always been dance. I’ve loved dancing for as long as I can remember. I began dancing at a studio at three years old and took off running. It’s a rare and fulfilling to watch someone bawl their eyes out or even just smile because of the weird ways you move your body.

But where oh where will I ever find this same feeling?

Answer: Harbinger.

I’m extremely grateful for all of the opportunities and newfound skills Harbinger has brought me. I slowly eased into learning design and fell in love with a new form of creating my own work. And I realized that being able to visually tell a story is where my heart truly lies. It took a second to recognize that I didn’t just love dance and art, but rather that I loved conveying emotion through my work and getting a reaction from those I create for.

Maybe it’s all in my head and the 6’4” basketball player doesn’t actually squeal in excitement when I send them a copy of “page28sports.” But I am forever thankful for at least finding a goal that keeps me striving for more.

The J-room will always hold some mysterious power of putting you on the right path. But don’t you fret, my love for visual storytelling isn’t over. The University of Arizona’s graphic design program doesn’t know what’s about to hit them, and I owe it all to those dang J-room freaks. If “You’re only as good as the people you have around you” is really true — I just might be the best ever.

REY MJ AUD CONDON WOLF

AUDREY

EMBARRASSMENT IS THE most terrifying thing in the world. Say no to embarrassment and yes to drugs (kidding, duh) is my motto for high school.

The mental block of shame is your biggest inhibitor — do everything that used to make you embarrassed but 10 times bigger and badder. People either won’t remember it, or they will and you’ll become a legend. That’s why it’s vital to have a good high school experience to join every single club, activity or sport.

That’s how joining Harbinger and watching the older

THE FIRST LESSON I learned on Harbinger was to never — and I mean never — piss off Dow Tate. If you make him mad he’ll give you the disappointed dad glare. Tate is the father of 80-plus Harblings. Tate is a strict dad and will make sure to keep the fire lit behind you even if it’s burning your bum a little bit.

Like any father would, Tate has taught me many life

KATE

KATE BEAULIEU

WHEN I FIRST walked into the J-room, I remember seeing buzzing students everywhere. Although I was intimidated at first, photography and Harbinger quickly became my favorite part of East.

Being new to staff, I was clueless about how to operate my camera and couldn’t decipher what the buttons meant, but forced myself to ask questions and not be afraid to try new things. I had many opportunities to exude my curiosity, which led me to finding some of my closest friends. I was able to discover and learn what I loved to take photos of the most — lacrosse.

staffers perfectly exemplified the power of shameless ambition. Shameless . Watching the staffers around me dress up in a suit in the middle of the school day for a joke interview or a photographer lying face down next to the end zone will really teach you how to reject embarrassment.

Involvement is more crucial than ever for job applications, college admissions and more. Get a job, play a sport, find a hobby. Make yourself interesting and do it with 100% effort. If I hadn’t done that, I would never have met my best friends on Harbinger.

lessons. If you’re a photographer, take your camera everywhere, don’t be late or you’ll miss important moments and be the last to leave so you can gather all your information. Don’t stay in one spot — instead, rotate to capture every angle. Look at life from different points of view and be present to get the maximum effect. Oh, and don’t do your math homework while he lectures — that’s a big one.

I’m thankful I had my friends and classmates inspiring me to shoot various sports, use different lenses and to not let fear hold me back — one of the greatest lessons I’ve taken away from my time on staff.

I’ll forever hold onto the friends, experiences, adventures and life lessons I’ve been taught over the past two years.

A PORSCHE 918 Spyder hatchback — the first thing I ever designed at 13 years old and uploaded to Instagram for the world to see. It was my first true piece of work that I was able to call my own.

Looking back, it’s unpolished and has no sense of realism, but nonetheless, it opened my eyes to the world of graphic design and my passion for it. It allowed me to bridge my love for cars with a new medium: the Adobe suite.

Over time, my passion for design skyrocketed along with my knowledge of Illustrator and Photoshop. By the time I was a senior, I thought I knew everything I could — until I joined Harbinger.

Joining Harbinger came at an impeccable time for me. I knew I wanted to study graphic design in college and thought I was wellequipped to hold my own at the college level, but my first semester on staff gave me a (much needed) reality check.

I felt like a wide-eyed scared little kid who was entering his first karate lesson. I had no clue where to start and who to ask if I needed help. Sure, I knew how to use Adobe products, but I had no clue how to use InDesign — the program Harbinger uses to design pages. Up until this year, I had only created a single piece in InDesign, a gaming magazine cover in eighth grade that we had made just so our teacher could just tell administrators that we “learned” InDesign.

AFA AKWANKA’A

Having to learn how to use InDesign while getting accustomed to the constant whirlwind of the j-room was a struggle. The first page I created had to be completely scrapped and redesigned by the editors. It was a bit humiliating and definitely a humbling experience.

However, I realized that if graphic design was truly something I ever wanted to pursue in college, then this class would be a testament to how badly I wanted it.

After a year on staff, I can proudly say that I’m proficient in all three Adobe design softwares. But outside of that, I’ve become more skilled as an overall journalist. Harbinger has rekindled my love for creativity and has opened me up to the idea of several different career options like Sport Illustration, or owning my own Graphic design firm one day.

So if you’re hesitant and not sure you’ll be able to thrive on staff, take that next step. The support system on Harbinger is always reliable, and you will find a medium that you’ll click with.

ELLE GEDMAN

GROWING UP, I knew I was going to be an interior designer. I pictured moving into a chic post- college apartment in New York City, making a name for myself so I can eventually move back to Kansas City to raise my family.

But visiting the University of Oklahoma school of architecture my junior year made me question my whole future plan.

I knew where I wanted to go to college, but seeing students creating floor plans and picking out fabrics made me realize interior design wasn’t the glamorous Pinterest lifestyle I’d been imagining. In a panic, I started trying lots of new career-related activities like DECA and FAID classes, even Harbinger.

And so I became a page designer and social media staffer. Even as an upperclassman, I clung to my photographer friends without branching out. I designed basic pages and felt unsatisfied with my participation on staff.

Throughout the stress about my future plans, one thing remained constant — my love for sports. Every Sunday growing up was spent watching football and my idea of “the most wonderful time of the year” is

March Madness. By the end of my junior year, Tate’s last “fiveminute” lesson sparked my interest.

He showed us clips of a comedic broadcast of two boys from 2017 talking about the boys soccer team — and that’s when it all clicked in my head. I could combine my life-long love for sports and newfound passion for journalism with my energetic personality to create something The Harbinger has never seen before.

So I created EASTPN — a sports pregame show — to update the student body on weekly sports news. I‘ve never looked back. Throughout filming, producing, editing and creating 26 episodes this year I’ve met amazing guest speakers and learned how to speak confidently in front of a camera.

Sure I often got teased by guys in my grade. I heard that a lot of “women don’t belong in sports” or that “I didn’t know what I was talking about” or that I should “shut up and be the pretty female that sits in the middle” but I learned not to listen because Harbinger has taught me that you should never let other people get in the way of what you love.

In the fall I’m attending OU to study broadcast journalism with the goal of becoming a sports anchor. I still plan to “make a name for myself,” just maybe not in the west borough of New York as a prestigious interior designer.

Harbinger, thank you for giving me the opportunity to find what I love. I hope you all tune in to watch me on the big screen one day.

from a 70-person class at Academie Lafayette, I figured I’d take a leap and join Harbinger. Immediately, without much guidance, I was handed a Nikon D7200 and sent off to shoot my first story about Power Life Yoga.

My sweaty palms gripped the camera as I nervously fumbled with my settings. F-stop? ISO? I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. After 25 minutes of shooting a simple portrait I felt accomplished and satisfied with two clear shots and decent lighting.

Within my first few months, I was shooting everything from basketball games to choir concerts. After each event, there were over a thousand photos on my camera I had to sort through and edit, taking upwards of two hours during my first few months on staff – and don’t even get me started on posting on the website.

Now, by the end of an event I have less than 400 photos and the editing process takes me no longer than an hour. I have truly learned how to be a photographer. And a good one.

But it was quite a process to get to this point. Things like the backroom that glowed with hanging LED lights that was only for upperclassmen, or the “jouch” — journalism couch — were unknown and terrifying. But after months of blurry and overexposed photos, it finally clicked.

I found my niche – lacrosse. After taking photos at a lacrosse game to get one of my mandatory credits for the week, I was hooked. I constantly found myself coming back to the sport. That feeling when you can tell yourself, “Now that was a great

shot” is unmatched.

Through an unknown sport to myself, I found a love for the art I was able to create.These were moments perfectly frozen in time that I never fathomed capturing. I quickly learned the ropes and continued to grow as a photographer. As a third year photographer, I’ve been proud to pass on my skills and advice to younger, aspiring staff photographers, as I once was.

By joining staff, taking pictures, partaking in Tate’s “five-minutes” — more like “30-minutes” — and constantly growing, I’ve been able to bond with so many different people on staff whether it was by sharing a twin-sized bed in San Francisco or desperately needing help on my InDesign final.

These past three years on staff have been unforgettable, and I’m incredibly grateful for all this program has done for me. Showing me my true self and talents, all the while allowing myself to grow and find a true passion.

TRI STEN

The top 50 senior-certified things to do before graduating from East

Participated in Lancer Day

Tried out for a sport

Dressed up for spirit week

Watched an under-represented sport

Recieved a Varsity letter

Participated in Mole day

Played Tetris in class

Took an animal oriented class

Attended a school dance

Walked to the Village Shops

NEVA

HUDSON

fell on ice in the East parking lot

JUNIOR

MY MOM DROPPED ME OFF near PV Pool… my mom warned me several times to be really careful walking on the ice because of how slick it was. There was a really thick sheet of ice right where I needed to cross… I couldn’t tell you exactly what happened because I blacked out. I know I was [passed] out for 5-7 minutes. If no one had stopped to help me, things could have been bad.

Participated in a walk out

Went on spring break with friends

Volunteered for a SHARE project

Gone on an international school trip

Walked on the Lancer crest

Fist bumped an SRO Offcer

Fell down the main staircase

Was interviewed by Harbinger or Hauberk

Went to a musical

Went down a ramp on a rolling object

Took an Edgenuity Class

Fell on ice in the parking lot

Studied in the East Commons

Been locked outside the school

Went to a game against Rockhurst

Watched the Lancer Dancer Spring Show

Attended Mr. CANsas

Bought merch from the student store

Was apart of a show with theatre

Sprinted through the Village for Lancer Day

BRENNAN

MONTALBANO

joined a club

SENIOR

I JOINED THE FREELANCER when I was a freshman... there were times where I wouldn’t even submit my own artwork because I was too nervous to hear what other people would think... [Now] I’m one of the only four-year staff members... [Freelancer] has given me an edge on college applications because it’s so unique to be part of a nationally-ranked high school art magazine.

Participated in the “baño” chant

Wore fip fops to school

Taken an AP or IB exam

Pulled an allnighter to study for a test

Took a class at the CAA

Went to at least 25 East sporting events

Was “Lancer of the Day”

Jumped in the East pool

Was at East past 11 p.m.

Joined a club

EVYN

ROBERTS

Was in the front of the student section

DoorDashed to East

Volunteered for a pep assembly

Watched the viral confederate fag debate on YouTube

Wore the Lancer mascot suit

Stormed the feld of a sports game

Came to school in a costume

Thrown up at school

Played in the SHARE dodgeball tournament

Went to a link dance

wore the lancer mascot suit was part of a theatre show

SENIOR

I DID THE MUSICAL THIS year even though I hadn’t ever been involved in theatre at East before. I was just thinking ‘I’m a senior, and I might as well join theatre even though it might go bad.’ I was so nervous going into it, but you get to meet people that you would have no idea about until you get involved with theatre.

JUNIOR

I WENT TO DISNEY WORLD years ago, and I saw a guy in a Snoopy costume and decided that dressing up as mascots was my dream. My brother played Varsity basketball, and I thought it would be so cool for us to be on the court together. So I DM’d one of the Pep Execs on Instagram at 3 a.m. one night and explained the whole situation. She let me be on the court even though I was a sophomore and could barely ft in the costume.

SCAN ME

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design by ava cooper photos by riley scott & eva berkley

copy by sophia brockmeier