I Want YOU for Volume VI of the Leo!

Cut to me, in fifth grade, still barely five feet tall, anxiously looking at a long list of club offerings: debate, math, chess, D&D… and Leo. To be honest, I had no intention of joining the Lakeside newspaper. I’d started a small (and looking back on it, extremely cringy) one at my old school, liked it reasonably well, and planned on leaving it at that. My parents asked me to reconsider, saying something along the lines of, “You’ll meet so many new people to be friends with. I mean, they’ll all like writing as much as you do!” I figured there was no harm, so I’d go, see what it was about, and quit if it got too boring.

By the second meeting of the club, though, I knew I’d made a good decision. Leo met on Wednesdays back then, and those were quickly becoming some of my favorite days. (Sorry, math club, but no one likes Mondays.) I’d decided I wanted to write for Opinion, and I’d found people just like me: students who loved writing and had strong beliefs and an equally strong sense of humor. What stands out most from my fifth-grade year was not the 17/21 I got on a Spanish test (true story), or even a particular article I wrote for the paper. I remember, as cheesy as it sounds, the friends I made, across grade levels, in Leo, and the countless meetings we spent losing it over the best instrument (bass, obviously), or pineapple on pizza (eww), or whatever random topic happened to come up during our brainstorming sessions. Best of all, three years later, I still get the same kick out of every meeting, though I hope I’m a little more responsible now.

And that’s why I think you should join the Leo. Yes, you there, with the jam-packed schedule of debate and Science Olympiad and basketball and whatever else it is you do. Because I guarantee you, there is no club quite like Leo. You can write about anything - truly, anything - that interests you, and you will end up getting other people interested in it as well. You will learn things you never expected to know, and you will make friends you never expected to meet, across all grade levels. (I even had a big, scary eighth-grade friend in fifth grade - who I still happen to be in touch with.) Most importantly, you’ll have fun. (And food. Did I mention food? There’s free food after every issue.)

But there are other benefits beyond the social aspect. You learn how to become an expert communicator, even if writing “isn’t your thing.” Journalism is not about pretty, flowery writing. It’s about getting the words to do what you want them to - have a conversation with the reader, convince them of something, or maybe just present the facts on a certain angle of a story - all while preserving your unique voice. Anyone can improve in these skills, from a fifth grader who has never read a newspaper before to the typical Lakeside eighth grader who had 16 articles published in The New York Times by the time they were five. (I’m kidding. Sorry, but no Lakesider is that amazing.) The beautiful thing about writing is that the more you do it, the better you get. So not only will your Leo articles improve, but so will your English essays, your emails, your reflections, and basically everything else you can think of.

I understand that not everyone has the time for Leo, and that’s okay. There’s always the opportunity to be a contributor: someone who doesn’t show up to meetings, but writes and receives edits the same as any other writer. If this is of any interest to you, please reach out to the folks at the Leo next year - they will be more than happy to include your work.

In summary? Join Leo. When that club signup form comes out next year, even if you’re unsure, or think you’re a “bad” writer: go for it. You will learn so much and make so many friends. I cannot recommend it more highly. But remember, if it’s boring, you can always just sneak away and return for just the April Fool’s edition. ;)