“Structure in an imbalanced year”: Sara Terwilliger, News Editor

Okay so there’s no good ways to start, so I’ll start by saying goodbye! Adieu! And hopefully it’ll get gradually better as we go. 

I first joined the Holly Spirit by request of Sherm (Mrs. Sherman) as penance for not taking her recommendation of going into AP English senior year, especially after she tormented me for several days about it, though, don’t tell her, I was gonna join anyways. Then I applied for, and was selected to be a News Editor! Hooray responsibilities! 

In short, the Holly Spirit made my entire senior year. It was the only semblance of structure I could grasp in such an imbalanced year, and it made me feel like a human again. Being able to communicate with students and staff from all backgrounds and be one of the first ‘bricks’ in this fantastic paper that’s been built – just the act of being a part of something, brings on one of the best feelings of achievement, and holds some of the best memories of senior year. It allowed me to get closer with fellow students that I had always wanted to befriend in the past (shoutout, Shea, Ham, Brendon and of course my short term writer waifu, Dana), as well as bother some of my favorite teachers a little bit extra with extended interviews throughout the year. Honestly those you surround yourself with, as well as how you act upon it, are what’s going to make the high school years happiest, and the Holly Spirit solidified that. 

Having the responsibility of an entire desk had surprisingly become almost therapeutic within a busy schedule, and I looked forward to reading everyone’s articles on Mondays, as well as seeing everyone’s dummy cute faces every Wednesday. The Holly Spirit not only taught me how to properly find non-biased news and how to torment underclassmen in email format, but it also genuinely brought lessons of accountability and management skills. With a whole desk as well as the ‘higher ups’ relying on you, that’s definitely some motivation – but as sad as I am about leaving, I’m not worried about next year’s staff (shoutout Lauren and Derek – y’all are amazing). Getting to know the underclassmen, and seeing just how immensely talented they are, makes me so happy to know that this amalgamation of articles and interviews is going into good hands.

Some words of advice for incoming writers, and all of the underclassmen moving up the ladder – your writings can have big effects. And it might take a while to notice, or to feel like you’re doing something consequential, but later on when you take a step back, you notice that your words make an impact on people, they’re YOUR readers now, and they’ll be the one to remember and carry on all of that information you presented (even if it is just about another RV fundraiser that no one has ever heard of, and is probably over with already). 

This paper made senior year into something really f-ing awesome, and I can’t thank Sherm – seriously she is the most inspiring, supportive and relatable teacher I’ve been blessed to be acquainted with –  and all of my fellow editors enough for all of the work that goes into this contraption. It’s hard to say goodbye, and I’m definitely not ready for it yet, but we’ll save that for the ‘lack of closure’ therapy that all of the class of 2021 will be in later on. I’m definitely not crying, you are.