Royals Essay 21

Throughout high school, I’ve had numerous opportunities to exert leadership within the school and the community, whether that may be in internships, volunteer work, or even extracurricular activities. I’ve participated in groups, including but not limited to the National Honors Society, Student Council, Student Voice Ambassador, and College Ambassador. All of these experiences have been great to help me learn soft skills that play into leadership, but for me, the most important leadership roles I’ve been assigned is being crowned Editor-in-Chief of this year’s yearbook, and earning myself an internship within the district office’s communications department. Through the constant demand of the yearbook and the internship, I’ve learned important lessons that have helped me become a better leader, and most importantly, have inspired me to keep moving forward with my education in journalism.
Since I was a little girl, I’ve known I wanted to write. I started writing in second grade–I wrote a short horror story about a mad scientist with his pet robo-dog that shoots lasers out of its butt. Though that story isn’t very tasteful, it sparked a passion in me to keep going. As I’ve grown, my writing has evolved. I started playing with poetry, novel writing, and even creative essay writing. A paper and pen gives me a thrill nothing else truly can, and from the moment I wrote that first story, I knew what my calling was. Going into the real world of writing, I understand that becoming a freelance author is a gamble–there’s no guaranteed paycheck and I just have to hope my work goes viral. As I get older, also, I’ve seen how the media can spread misinformation, and it gave me a vision for my future: I will use my deep-rooted footing in writing, along with a desire to spread the truth to all my fellow Americans.
Going into high school, I made sure I would be put in journalism classes, hoping to get a head start into my career. I remember walking in that first day extremely nervous, yet excited to see what I was getting myself into. I knew I wanted to be on the writing side of the program, so when choosing our roles I made sure to specify “written media author”. When I got assigned my first writing assignment, I jumped at the chance to show my skillset in the class. I remember Mr. Frizell, our teacher at the time, explained to me what can improve and what to keep, and I got a strong desire to write something perfect.
Throughout my years of being in that class, I slowly moved up the ladder to get to where I am today, and that is Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook. When Mrs. Dawson (our current instructor) informed me of my role, I almost cried. All my hard work in that class truly paid off, and my role today is living proof of it. Through not only plenty of lessons about the work journalists do, but also practice within the class, I have begun to feel more secure in my future field of study. I work on all the writing, graphics, and photography that goes into the yearbook.
One day, while I was in one of my classes, the director of communications in my school district, Lynn, approached me. We had met briefly before, so she knew my desired field of study was journalism. She offered me an opportunity to work alongside her, I just had to apply and interview. After a few nerveracking weeks of waiting, I finally was hired. I remember my first day working with Lynn. Walking into that office shaking with excitement, ready to assume my position. I got my own desk, email, and was quickly assigned a job.
During my interview, I had proposed doing a weekly “Senior Spotlight” post, which highlights one senior per week and credits them for all their hard work within the school building. My first assignment was to actually write one of those posts. I chose my senior and swiftly got to work, ready to not only display my skillset, but to improve it. After I finished, Lynn and I went over it and made some slight corrections, and I will never forget what she said to me after.
“Kody, this is fantastic,” she gushed. “Besides some tiny things here and there, I have no notes. You truly have a knack for writing.”
This approval, from such an impressive woman like Lynn, will stick with me forever. I’ve received validation from a multitude of people, but from a real journalist, it meant everything to me. She always tells me I have great potential. That I’ll take my skills and thrive in a work environment crafted around journalism. I plan to take these skills I’ve gained all the way through college and into my career, because every day, taking journalism and working in the district keeps me pushing forward and inspires me to pursue my dreams.