It’s been a wild ride, Brahma News.
I’ve genuinely loved drawing comics and writing for this publication, it’s helped me improve the creative outlets that I hold so dear. My art style has evolved throughout the years that I’ve drawn for Brahma News, and my writing is infinitely better than it was in freshmen year. It isn’t easy to say goodbye, I’ve learned so much from our advisor, Mrs. Cardoza, and am so glad that I was given the opportunity to work under her during my short time here.
I want to be able to tell my fellow news staff that I’ll come back and visit them, but who knows, I may be couch-surfing in Arkansas or pioneering a forest in Tennessee. I don’t plan on sticking around, but I will take all the experience gained from newspaper with me on my travels.
I need to savor these memories now to assure that they will stay inside my head for years to come. Although my time here at MacArthur was short, this newspaper will always stick out to me as something special that I can look back on and be proud of what I did. The friends that I made, the comics I drew, the stories I shared, all will have a lasting effect on me and the way that I operate.
I remember being on this publication during freshmen year, I was the only freshmen besides one other student (my boy Frank), and was frankly intimidated. So many seemingly untouchable upperclassmen and great writers filled that room, brimming with talent. I was painfully shy during those first two years, moreso in freshmen year; my insecurities overshadowed my confidence, but it didn’t stop my fellow writers and teacher from attempting to crack the shell that I had cocooned myself in. During my third year of highschool, I had a schedule conflict and couldn’t join the newspaper class, but I promised that I would come back next year. Every time I saw my friend Frank, the other freshmen who was with me during those first two years of newspaper, he would always make me promise that I would come back, and I would swear up and down every time that my heart belonged to the paper.
And here I am, at the tail end of my fourth year in the paper (minus the third year break). I wish that I was able to write during my third year, but that’s just how life goes; and fortunately I was able to come back. Coming back to the paper was almost surreal, every single staffer on the paper was different except for Frank, who had stayed on the entire four years; and yet, I felt right at home. I was happy to come back, happy to start again, happy to tell stories through my illustrations and writings.
Serving on this paper may have steered me in a different direction, I may have never considered writing professionally for a publication if it weren’t for this class. This class isn’t just a class to me anymore, but a family. It’s not often that I create a connection with other students as strong as this one, and it could be the stress of running a site binding us together, but it feels much deeper than that. My closest moments with the staff were when deadlines were looming over our heads and the feeling of wrath crept up our backs the longer we waited to get our work done.
It’s impossible for me to express the amount of gratitude I feel towards Mrs. Cardoza and the class she gave me the opportunity to take, it’s impossible for me to thank my fellow staffers who always made me feel at home in the classroom. It’s impossible for me to forget the time that I spent writing for this publication, and I never will. So from the bottom of my heart I can proudly say, thank you Brahma News, and goodbye.
