This is not how I imagined saying goodbye to our beloved East Highlights, but also never in a million years did I imagine my senior year ending like this.

    I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad because I didn’t get to live through the last of my high school experience; but knowing that there are others grieving the loss of something even more valuable than my senior year gives me some closure for the memories lost. 

    I can go on and on writing about this very confusing time but it is safe to say everyone has heard enough coverage of it already, instead I want to look back and reminisce on the past four years in high school and in newspaper. 

    Since Freshman year most of our class looked forward to being the “cool” Seniors who got to go to prom and finally graduate, I was no different. However if I’m being honest Freshman year wasn’t the easiest on me, adjusting to a new school was tough on me but looking back I’m proud of the growth I made as a person. Sophomore year wasn’t any better, switching schools again didn’t make high school more tolerable, but the people I met over at Guilford and my new found love for theatre did. 

     Junior year I came back to East and joined newspaper, my first year I took the position as the People editor with zero knowledge in journalism but plenty in design (looking back I want to apologize to Madie if I ever gave you a hard time). The same year I had the opportunity of being on the journalism team and competing in the editorial writing and infographic blocks of which I placed first and third at sectionals. I then had the honor of competing at state and placing third in infographic design, setting a new record for East, which I hope future E-Rabs can break.

   Finally my senior year came around, ever since I was named the print editor-in-chief for the East Highlights I had many goals and aspirations for the paper. Many of those goals I didn’t get to accomplish because of the crazy school year we had. However my biggest goal was to make newspaper a fun experience for everyone, making it sort of like a safe space where we could let our creativity flow and explore new ways of writing; I left feeling pretty good about achieving that.

It wasn’t always rainbows and sunshines, there were definitely days where I went to my amazing advisor Mrs.Glidden resigning to my position because I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, but she always found a way to motivate me to finish what I had  started. It was definitely a wild journey and looking back I’m glad I decided to go on it.

 To my amazing staff:

 To Jackson, it was a wild ride but I’m glad you came along; I hope this makes it to the website since I never really posted anything. Glad newspaper started our friendship and I hope it lasts long.

To Connor, it was nice working with you, I was always amazed by the dedication that went into your articles.

To Tabitha, your infographics never failed to impress me, I will miss hearing your perspective on various subjects on the Friday discussions.

To Raquel, thank you so much for all the work you put into the print newspaper; for staying after class to help me finish the pages and for always making me laugh.

To Natali, the growth you showed in the two years working  with you was huge, your work never failed to impress and so did your page layouts.

To Alyssa, you started as our people editor and ended as the school life editor, your time as an editor was cut short but I saw a lot of potential in your work, thanks for working till the last of it.

To Elizabeth, I didn’t get to work with you as much as I would’ve wanted but the few articles I did read were well written and always relevant to current events.

To Zach, it was nice working with you, your hard work and dedication never failed to impress me. It was nice seeing you around again.

To Brianna, thanks for always being positive. It was nice working with you this year.

To Hailey, Thank you for keeping our social media running, I always looked forward to reading your work, always well done and kept me hooked till the end.

To Jack, you opened up more this year and I’m glad I got to work with you these two years.

To Zoie, I met you this year and in the few months I worked with you it showed how good of a friend and work partner you are thanks for motivating me to keep going.

To Karlye, Thanks for bringing your outgoing personality to class and not being afraid to speak up when things weren’t right, you made Friday’s discussions interesting.

To Leo, Thank you for being at every event taking pictures and getting quotes you were a huge asset to the class.

To Sully, you are the worst assistant ever, just kidding thanks for always getting a laugh out of everyone and not letting me moderate on Friday’s, I’m sure your resume made with the pencil tool will get you far in life. No but seriously thanks for the advice you gave me throughout this process it was nice having you around.

To Adriana, its safe to say you were the class’ second mom following Mrs.Glidden, your blogs were something I looked forward to reading in both my years working with you, thanks for being so open in your work.

To Martin, even though we didn’t work together that much this year, it was a pleasure working with you both years, you are very talented( I will never understand how you know so much about astrology but I find it cool).

To Aly and Lelia, the future editors-in-chief, you will lead the class and I’m so excited to see what you guys come up with. There’s still a lot of things to learn but remember to always have fun along the way, the future of this class is in your hands.

Lastly to Mrs.Glidden, words can’t explain how grateful I am for the opportunity you gave me. Thanks for believing in me since day one and for pushing me to be better everyday. You are one of the few teachers that I could genuinely tell love what they do, thanks for never giving up on any student. You definitely made an impact in my life, once again thank you for being a great teacher and advisor. 

Looking ahead:

In this time of uncertainty the best thing to do is hope for a better future, my biggest hope for this class is for it to continue to exist and give students hands-on experiences in the media communications world. It’s sad to see that our school board thinks it’s a dying industry and should no longer be offered as a pathway, when in reality it’s an industry that’s thriving with the increased use of social platforms. As harsh as it sounds, print newspapers are dying and reader engagement isn’t high but digital media  is doing better than ever, that’s why this class should be rebranded and offered to those pursuing a career in media communications instead of not offering it anymore. To the next journalism class: make deadline and make former E-Rab journalists proud.

  I apologize if this article isn’t in proper AP style or doesn’t have any quotes but it isn’t normal, I mean what is normal in 2020?

This is an amazing experience I will never forget and will always look back with pride in our work, reporting for the East Highlights one last time,

Braulio Saucedo, Print Editor-in-chief, class of 2020. Once an E-Rab always an E-Rab.