This Just In...

I guess I just had a look back to think about things, now that it's been almost a year - I remember that being in Journalism had always been my dream, ever since I was a little girl and I first found myself able to pronounce the word Journalism. Maybe that's why it hurt me so much when I grew to hate it at Deer Valley.

I didn't want to be a mainstream reporter, I never did - but Journalism at Deer Valley taught me that mainstream is the only way to make it. Anyone ever watch 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'? Andie wanted to be a real journalist, to write about politics and world affairs, but instead, she was stuck writing about...well, how to lose a guy in 10 days, obviously.

That's exactly the way it was at Deer Valley. I didn't want to publish a feel-good paper that withheld the things that needed to be said, I wanted to be the rogue reporter who wrote the tough stories. I think it's safe to say that when senior year rolled around, I was the best writer on the staff. I should have been editor-in-chief, I was the most qualified for it - instead, I caught flack for stories that were too controversial, I never had Silman's support for anything I wanted to pursue, and they told me I was too harsh when I edited stories.

Truth was, I was being punished for trying to present high-school level material to a high school audience. A matter of a couple decades ago, high school students wore armbands as a silent protest of the Vietnam War, something I still find artful and genius - nowadays, high school students are wearing kiddie backpacks and could hardly even tell you where Vietnam is on a map. Ask them to tell you where Iraq is? Hah! Good luck with that.

High school students need to be elevated to meet their potential, not greeted by a system that patronizingly accepts their ignorance, then punishes them for it when they mess up because they haven't been taught better.

When Silman first started with Journalism at Deer Valley, he said we were going to be the best paper in California. Perhaps we are, if we're competing with middle-school newsletters.

I didn't decide to stray away from Journalism because I stopped liking writing. I strayed because I didn't want to let the stupid institution bastardize something that I love, something that I consider just as much a part of me as my right hand. I'm not done writing, not even close. I'll never be done. But I'm proud of myself for the choice I made.