I’m a different person in the same shoes.

Even though I changed and grew up a lot during my four years at Elk Grove, it feels the same. I’m living my daily routine like nothing’s changed. The only things that did change were the things I tried.

Freshman year, when the bell rang at 8:10 a.m., I would walk down to the old EG Studio in 196, a small room that barely fit just the nine of us Guardian staff members. It had a podcast room with an exposed ceiling, but it was our home to us. Quiet and humble, we spent time working on pages. I’ll admit, even though paste-ups back in the day were a hassle, the lukewarm Little Caesar’s pizza made it worth it.

Two years after joining the newspaper, I went out for lacrosse, if only it was because my friends always said to me, “You say you want to do a sport but you never actually do it.” While we only went 2-8 my first year, I made some friends during that brief season.

It didn’t stop at lacrosse. I joined Scholastic Bowl. I did theater tech for a little bit. I somehow qualified for state in Sports Writing for IHSA Journalism, and I landed third place in state.

There was a constant for my four years, and it was the Elk Grove Guardian newspaper. I did it for all four years and had remembered some pretty amazing highlights. There’s just too many to single one out as the pinnacle of them all. From the late deadlines my first year all the way to the online senior issues during the pandemic and after, it was all so memorable. But thank you to Mr. Modelski, my editors, and the writers we made friends with over the years. They’ve really helped me out so much.

All of these various experiences have formed who I am today. I am more confident and I have more knowledge than I did the year before, and it’s all thanks to just giving it a shot.

So, what are you waiting for? Go try something. And realize how far you have come when it’s all over and done.