Dear readers,
I am going to be completely transparent in this letter. I am not perfect and neither is any student here. Junior year has already been the most challenging, mentally stressful year of my life. I expected it to be stressful due to all the standardized tests, AP classes, and just the overall switch of pace and content in the classroom.
However, I didn't expect that I would be listening to Mr. Russell talk about mental health in AP Lang, holding my head in my hands not being able to breath because I am fully aware that I am sacrificing my body, mind, and sanity to look good on college resumes. I didn't expect to be at volleyball trying my absolute best and still not being good enough due to the fact that I was drained from the school day. I didn't expect to have an absolutely terrible day and go home to where I usually feel comfort and have a panic attack because of all my roles and responsibilities imploding and making my problems feel so big, and me so small. I didn’t expect to be grasping for breath on my bed, trying to remember how to breath and, then, reminding myself that I have homework that I need to do, stopping myself from worrying about or processing what just happened. I didn’t expect the nights where I get two hours of sleep because I had school, volleyball, and work, only to wake up the next morning, drink a cup of coffee, and be expected to be a perfect student all over again.
I know I'm not the only one going through this. High school feels like hell to everyone at some point.
This letter is not meant to just be me complaining about my life and how drained I am from what every high schooler is going through. That’s not my point. My point is that this is just one story of what all my other newspaper classmates are also going through right now. We are lacrosse gods, social media icons, Marvel lovers, and (probably) the coolest people ever. But, we are also journalists using our voices to be part of something bigger than ourselves. The Purple Gem is a tradition, and while it is underappreciated by some, it is important. Some of these people are going to have their names on the byline of some major publication, and they're going to have gotten their start right here in these pages
Sometimes I am in newspaper, and I look around and see all the different assignments people are working on, and I try and take a step back and realize how amazing this class is and how amazing my classmates are. In these pages, we attempt to push our problems to the side and devote ourselves to providing you the most pertinent of information in this publication.
Some of the nearly sleepless nights were worth the hassle because now it's on paper and being read by someone else. So, in your hands, you hold a piece of me, a piece of my fellow classmates, and an important piece of our community and world. Please enjoy Issue One.
I am going to be completely transparent in this letter. I am not perfect and neither is any student here. Junior year has already been the most challenging, mentally stressful year of my life. I expected it to be stressful due to all the standardized tests, AP classes, and just the overall switch of pace and content in the classroom.
However, I didn't expect that I would be listening to Mr. Russell talk about mental health in AP Lang, holding my head in my hands not being able to breath because I am fully aware that I am sacrificing my body, mind, and sanity to look good on college resumes. I didn't expect to be at volleyball trying my absolute best and still not being good enough due to the fact that I was drained from the school day. I didn't expect to have an absolutely terrible day and go home to where I usually feel comfort and have a panic attack because of all my roles and responsibilities imploding and making my problems feel so big, and me so small. I didn’t expect to be grasping for breath on my bed, trying to remember how to breath and, then, reminding myself that I have homework that I need to do, stopping myself from worrying about or processing what just happened. I didn’t expect the nights where I get two hours of sleep because I had school, volleyball, and work, only to wake up the next morning, drink a cup of coffee, and be expected to be a perfect student all over again.
I know I'm not the only one going through this. High school feels like hell to everyone at some point.
This letter is not meant to just be me complaining about my life and how drained I am from what every high schooler is going through. That’s not my point. My point is that this is just one story of what all my other newspaper classmates are also going through right now. We are lacrosse gods, social media icons, Marvel lovers, and (probably) the coolest people ever. But, we are also journalists using our voices to be part of something bigger than ourselves. The Purple Gem is a tradition, and while it is underappreciated by some, it is important. Some of these people are going to have their names on the byline of some major publication, and they're going to have gotten their start right here in these pages
Sometimes I am in newspaper, and I look around and see all the different assignments people are working on, and I try and take a step back and realize how amazing this class is and how amazing my classmates are. In these pages, we attempt to push our problems to the side and devote ourselves to providing you the most pertinent of information in this publication.
Some of the nearly sleepless nights were worth the hassle because now it's on paper and being read by someone else. So, in your hands, you hold a piece of me, a piece of my fellow classmates, and an important piece of our community and world. Please enjoy Issue One.