I’m known for showing up last minute to events. Sometimes a little after the last minute. I make last-minute changes and decisions without fully understanding the consequences, but in the end, it works out every time.

So the path that led me here was unexpected, but I’m no stranger to unlikely last minute journeys. 

When I was little, I started kindergarten a year late to work on my speech because I had begun talking later than most peers my age. That decision changed the course of my school life as I became the oldest in my class and often the first to reach many significant moments. I was the first to reach double digits in terms of age in elementary school. I was the first to become a teenager and legally be allowed to use social media. I was the first in my friend group to get a driver’s license, and soon I will be the first out of my friends to become an adult.

Being the oldest puts you in a position of leadership. When I’m with friends, I’m usually the one who drives or the one who talks to strangers at restaurants and stores to make sure our events and hangouts run as they are supposed to. I’ve jokingly been called the grandfather of the group time and time again, but with that comes the fact that you are always expected to make decisions for the group you are with.

The first major decision of my life happened when I was in eighth grade. I was accepted into the IB program at Heritage High School. At the time I was struggling with math, and many people had told me that I would fail if I did that program. I spent months weighing out the pros and cons, questioning my own instincts and what other people had to say about me. On the last day of school in eighth grade, I dropped out of the IB program in a last-minute pivot and had to reapply to classes at Rock Ridge, of course, at the last minute. At the time, I was nervous and didn’t know if I had made the right decision. 

But as I would come to know, being at Rock Ridge opened up so many more doors for me.

One such door was that during the summer before sophomore year, when walking in my basement to finish Virtual PE 10 requirements, which I did over the summer, I just started thinking about my high school years and what classes I would take my junior and senior year. I struggled to think of classes to take during my senior year, and I realized that if I had planned things properly, as in taking summer courses and strategically planning my junior year classes, I could finish my graduation requirements in three years instead of four.

As the oldest person in the class, I wanted to move forward quickly, but when I brought this up to the adults in my life who needed to approve this decision, I was told no. In fact, I was told no many times over meetings that stretched for many months. I almost gave up, but in March, I decided that I would give it one last try. 

It worked. 

I was told I could graduate by the August after my junior year. I had been held back a year right from the start in elementary school, and in high school, at the end of my sophomore year, at the last minute, I finally took that year back.

So with this timeline approved, I thought my schedule for junior year was set. As it turns out just a couple weeks before the first day of school this year, an elective I had wanted to take would overlap with my guitar class. I had to drop something. I chose to keep guitar, and my counselor asked for a list of alternative electives I wouldn’t mind taking. Newspaper was on that list, though it wasn’t my first choice. However, that is the class my counselor put me in, which I didn’t even know until schedules came out. Once again I had made a last-minute decision that would go on to have a profound impact on my life.

When I first signed up for the class, I thought the class would just be lectures about the importance of journalism. After all, the class is called Journalism I. However, on my first day, I saw Mr. Anderson walk in the room already knowing half the class, acting as if it was just business as usual as he talked about the articles we would have to write, and the work that lay ahead. 

My first thought was “This is not what I signed up for.” 

Soon though, I realized that this class allowed me to do what I love: write my thoughts, build connections by interviewing people, record podcasts for those like me who prefer audio over reading, and most definitely have a platform where I could use my own voice to speak the truth. 

In addition, we met journalists who ensured that we get the most factual stories even in tense situations. We went to New York to meet student journalists from across the country in our collective mission to be good messengers and explore the Big Apple! And finally, I went from being alone in that class to forming a connection with everyone.

In Newspaper, everyone is friends with everyone, and I am grateful for the closure I am receiving now as I write this swan song. I’ve only been on this team for a year, but the amount of work I’ve done with this talented group of writers, photographers, and designers is remarkable. I cannot think of a better final chapter than with a class that is a community.

I leave The Blaze now hoping I made a positive impact on student journalism and as proof that it is never too late to do what you put your mind to. The road ahead will not be easy, there will be tough times, challenges to overcome, and yes, last minute decisions to be made, but I have faith and confidence that in both the newsroom and outside, everything will work out just fine.

I’m sad to say goodbye but grateful for every last-minute decision that brought me here to this moment. To newspaper, the people in my life, and fate, thank you for this unexpected yet thrilling life journey. 

I wouldn’t have it any other way.