After many years of hardships, the Millard West Girls Basketball team lost their star player for yet another season. This interview and the story was a tough one. Getting her to talk about something that really put a toll on her life wasn't an easy task. But after talking to her teammates, I produced a story that athletes all around would read. 

With all of the horrific mass murders going on in the world, Nebraska decided on increasing their precautions when it comes to what goes through the doors of stadiums and arenas. The new policy may be seen as inconvenient, but after doing research and interviewing security guards, I found the reasoning. 

This was my first published article in my school's newspaper. Once I put my final period on my rough draft, I immediately handed it to my adviser, where he tore it apart. I realized then the importance of an opinion story, don't sound like you're whining, sound as if you have a purpose for your words. 

As stated in my About Me, feature writing is what got me into my passion for journalism. Learning about people you never thought you would talk to and getting to ask them questions about their unique experiences excites me. This story took me on a journey to a place I had never thought of going. For two weeks, I interviewed these girls and got the chance to learn all about their summer trip to a small village in Guatemala. 

Millard West is known for its excellence in sports. Most people know that, but what they don't know is our awards and achievements beyond the turf and courts. Last year, our drum line had won Best in State. Writing this story was a challenge, as I'm not familiar with marching band or anything of that sort. Although I struggled with this story, it ended up getting me to the State competition where I ultimately received second place in feature writing.

As a copy editor, you are assigned two division pages to complete before a deadline at the beginning of the new year. You have to help design the page, find multiple pictures that aren't used anywhere else in the book, and most importantly, you have to write a division copy. The copy is the most important part, it pulls the whole yearbook together and makes it flow. No interviews are used, just your knowledge of the school and what happened during that point of time, and for my case, during fall sports. 

The golf spread is always the one spread no one wants to get assigned to. Why? I'll be straightforward with you, it's boring. You get the same pictures, their tournaments are in the middle of a school day, and their quotes are bland. For some reason, I decided to challenge myself by taking on the spread. After digging and digging into these boys, I finally found a story that was both interesting and creative. 

I wrote this story at the beginning of my sophomore year. You can only imagine an anxious underclassman interviewing two seniors and trying to get a decent story out of it. Walking into their advanced classrooms and asking the teacher for them was beyond nerve-wracking. In yearbook, I tried my hardest to get my adviser to even know my name, let alone like my work. This was the first story Mr. Hilburn told me he liked of mine. Little did he know, it gave me the confidence and determination to write more stories that would live up to his- and now my- standards.

Here my weaknesses are VERY prominent. The first story I ever wrote for the yearbook was about our school's reserve football team. Now, if you have ever written a story for your high school's newspaper, magazine, or yearbook, you know that getting any sort of quote or story out of a freshman or sophomore boy is nearly impossible. And I was stuck doing it. In this story you will find weak quotes, horrible word choice, and a lack of AP style. But, you will see the beginning of my journalism career.