Photography has always been an enjoyable creative outlet for me. I have always loved being able to go to school events and capture the emotions of the students, and then being able to put all of those photos in one place and show them to the students.
Photography shows big and small stories. My favorite event to capture each year is senior prom because you can find so many emotions at this event. This is where seniors realize that they are finally graduating, and they put all of their effort into making it a memorable night.
Over the year, I have brought my camera to several sporting events, performing arts shows, and classrooms. This year, I made sure to focus on capturing a wide range of emotions in different locations. All of these events and emotions will never be recreated the same way they occurred, and I am happy that I was there to capture them in a photo.
I love being able to share photos with people through Instagram, news, and the yearbook. A photo can mean so much to a person. They might hang it on their wall or have it as their phone background and I think it's so important to get photos of all the parts of events. The quiet and the loud moments both make an event what it truly is.
Throughout this past year, I have contributed my knowledge, teamwork, and communication skills to the journalism program and our yearbook. Communicating with other editors, reporters, and designers is the most important part of putting this yearbook together. At the beginning of the year, me and the other photo editors taught the new photographers how to take, edit, and upload photos. We taught them the assignment process and helped them with caption writing.
By being a photo editor, I learned so many important leadership skills from my co-editor. I gained confidence in my skills as a photographer and a leader. Next year, I am looking forward to being an even better leader and communicator.
I never knew how much being a part of this program would grow my skills. I am so glad that I decided to apply at the end of my freshman year, and I am proud of all the work I have put into it. I am thankful for all of the editors have who taught me all of these skills and have given me confidence in my work. I am also thankful for the amazing community of people who make journalism an inclusive group and have helped me make so many fun memories.