To be perfectly honest, when I was a freshman, I had no interest in journalism. Sure, I watched the news with my parents or I occasionally scrolled through the New York Times, but I never even considered that I could write for a newspaper. 

Yet, when I realized that I had an extra spot on my sophomore-year schedule, I found myself looking for an extra elective. My freshman English teacher (Ms. Gries) and my adviser at the time (Ms. Gompers, who is the English department chair at Northfield) jumped at the opportunity, asking me to consider Yearbook or Advanced Journalism. I had taken Yearbook in middle school and wanted to try something new, so I decided to try the newspaper.

This ended up being one of my best decisions of my high school career. It could be one of yours as well.

Advanced Journalism is a class open to all sophomores, juniors and seniors. Students first learn how to write in the journalistic style, which is much different than essay-writing. Then, these students have the opportunity to regularly write for New Trier High School’s award-winning newspaper. So don’t worry about not knowing how to write a News article or a Features article—or if you don’t know the difference between the two—because our advisers (Ms. Hands and Ms. Kenney) will teach you. All you really need to have is a love to write—you’ll be writing at least 500 words every two weeks—and to ask questions.

And, even if you feel like your writing is not strong enough to be published, there is always a style of journalism that can work for you. If you like more structured writing, perhaps News or Sports will suit you better. If you write with voice, perhaps Opinions is your niche. If you are a mix of both, maybe Features or Entertainment is for you. It’s all up to what you want to do.

You won’t be alone either: there are many others who will join the class at the same time as you. Your cohort will learn together, create newspaper layouts together, maybe even interview sources together. Most importantly, you will learn to love writing together. And since you participate in Advanced Journalism and therefore are a staff writer and reporter on the newspaper, you also get to know the editors personally, which include the senior editors (the editors-in-chief and usually the managing editors) and the junior editors (usually the section editors—the position I hold now!).

These editors are a crucial resource, and I’m not just saying that because I am one. We know what it’s like to learn how to write or how to ask good, active questions. We know what it’s like to submit your first story for edits or to actually see that story get published. We were once beginners as well, and will never judge you for mistakes—we’ve likely made the same ones before.

The New Trier News is a great community. It’s a small group of people who all take different “major” courses at different levels with varying interests, but are all united by their love for writing, investigating, and ultimately, sharing their work with the world. 

So, if you are interested in journalism and how it works “behind-the-scenes,” I strongly ask you to consider joining our newspaper. You won’t regret it.