Where are you from? What high school did you go to? What was the type/name of publication?

I am from Dothan, AL. I went to Northview High School until 10th grade and graduated from Providence Christian School. I did yearbook for both.

 

Describe the publication a little bit: how big was the staff? How did y'all fund yourselves? 

The staff was composed of about 15-20 people split amongst different class periods and a sponsor, who was a teacher. We got most of the money from advertisements, selling yearbooks and senior parents who would sponsor a special spot for their graduating child and pay based on getting a quarter, half or full page dedicated to them. (This was at the private school when only about 50 people were in a graduating class and most everyone got one. Prices could go up to $500)

 

Why did you decide to join the publication in high school?

I wanted to gain more experience in media and thought it was a fun class to take because it was mostly working on a computer, doing graphics and layouts and taking photos.

 

What were your favorite parts? Your least favorite parts?

I really liked that we got special privileges and were encouraged to go to extracurricular events to take photos. I felt like I got to know everyone a little better in my school because I had to spend time finding pictures of them throughout various folders and then putting all those pictures of them in their own folder so they appeared in the yearbook a certain amount of times. That was definitely my least favorite part. My favorite part was when the yearbook was at end of completion and the staff got to do a photoshoot that appeared at the end of the book and we missed a day of school for it. I also loved passing them out to people because that was everyone's favorite day of school. It was very tedious work and could get boring when working on the computer because you have to get everyone in a certain amount of times and triple check the names, technical errors, etc. It was a little unorganized and chaotic, so I hope they've updated their system more now.

 

What is your current involvement in campus media?

I am a food and health editor for Alice Magazine and previously a beauty staff writer for them.

 

Why did you decided to continue your involvement in scholastic journalism into college? How has it benefited you?

I wanted to get experience that I could genuinely learn from to build off of my career because I enjoy this type of work and knew I would need to build up a resume. I can have freedom and flexibility to write about what I want and try new things. I don't have to worry about if I make a mistake because it is student media and not an actual media business. Though, we do get published and it is very much a real thing, but the pressure isn't there to have to live up to higher expectations.

 

Why do you think scholastic journalism is important?

I think that it sets a foundation for students to figure out what they like and see if they would enjoy a career in journalism, advertising or a similar field and it allows a creative but engaging outlet to get to know school staff, students and people you might not interact with otherwise.