My entire life I have been challenging myself, and the past two years of my life have been no exception to this trend. I have been a part of Print Media Workshop (PMW) for the past two years, which was a decision that took nothing more than a few clicks of a button. Just kidding, though. There were scheduling conflicts both years when I wanted to take this class, and I had to make sacrifices just to remain a part of PMW. Why did I choose to keep taking this class, even if it meant taking the class by myself or giving up AP Chemistry? Because despite the stress, lack of sleep and deadline frustrations, I have never been challenged more or expected so much out of myself. PMW has taught me that I can always work harder, and I can always do better, even when dealing with a subject that is not my forte.
PMW is not a class that you attend for 80 minutes every other day, and are given the occasional homework assignment. It is a class that is always on my mind. “Oh, were the students of the month called down to the office? I hope someone from PMW is getting a picture of it for the newspaper this month,” or “I need to go get a camera right now to get some pictures of these snow rollers that are on the football field but might not be here tomorrow!” Print Media has become a part of my daily routine; from the relationships built within the class to the duties of a journalist, I don’t know what my life would have been like without taking this class. Maybe I would have had more time to study for the AP U.S. History exam, or even had more time to sleep. But I also know I would not have grown as a person as much as I have from being a part of the “PMW experience.”
Working with people has always been a weakness of mine. I tend to be controlling and have a hard time letting others help me—I always feel better if I do all of the work. Though I still need to work on this flaw, Print Media has made me realize I can’t do everything all on my own. There is no way I can write every article and complete the entire layout for the newspaper, assuming that I would want to sleep at some point. I know I still have a long way to go, but I know I can trust my classmates to pull together and put out the highest quality publications.
To the underclassmen in PMW, I want to thank you for a wonderful year. Though it has been extremely stressful, I am proud of all we have done. You are all wonderful people (even you, Grace), and I wish you all the best of luck next year. Please understand that the positions you are all about to step up to are not easy, but they are extremely rewarding. I know you all are capable of making both the newspaper and yearbook better; you just have to believe in yourself.
To Mr. Fitzpatrick, I want to thank you the most for infinitely many reasons. You genuinely care about all of your students, and though you don’t expect everyone to be the best, you expect them to be their best, and that is what is important. I have never had a teacher that has made me more frustrated in my entire life, but that is only because you expected more out of me than I thought I had. In the end, my frustration was directed at the wrong person—I was really only disappointed in myself when I knew I wasn’t doing my best. Thank you for dealing with my stubbornness and at least pretending to laugh at my jokes. Most of all, thank you for showing me that I can write sentences good and, never, ever-make: grammar mistakes.
My time as the Editor-in-Chief for the FHS-Press has been quite the experience. If I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing. But please, don’t quote me on that.