By Megan Bodenschatz — Writing crazy headlines that none of you have ever seen, laughing our butts off at late night, Rachel locking her keys in her car at Chipolte and Spano’s laugh. All of these I will miss next year but what I will miss most are the awesome relationships I had the opportunity to build with my news staff homies.

Walking down the main hall, you can always hear the laughter spilling out of M226 or see editors out in the hallway with Spano for a “hallway talk.” Some days we would walk in fuming because we had just been yelled at by the administration, other days we would die from laughter. News staff had its ups and downs but the skills I learned and people I met will stick with me forever.

Sophomore year I was convinced that I would not be successful in news staff as I was not comfortable with having my writing published for everyone to see. If it had not been for the pushy Brandon Genetin, I would not have joined. To Brandon, I must thank you for forcing me to join news staff and making the Feature/Focus editor.

My high school experience would not have been the same if it had not been for news staff. Not only did I develop friendships with these amazing people, I also grew more confident in myself and the way I write.

As I sit here at my last late night ever, I am coming to a realization of how much I am going to miss the people I have met and the relationships I built during my time in News Staff. Just today, Mackenzie and I blasted rap music as we went to take last minute pictures and Spano wore around a train conducter cap because she thought it matched her outfit. M226 was a place where we could be as silly as we wanted and not worry about what people thought because it was inevitable that someone would do something more crazy and stupid. Spano’s room was a safe haven where many of us truly found ourselves and developed our personalities.

I encourage all of you to get involved in something that challenges you not only academically but also challenges who you are. Whether you are in college or high school, the activities you get join and the people you hang out with should positively shape you into the marvelous person you are capable of being.

[Updated Aug. 7, 2017: This article has been reformatted for consistency.]