MY PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE |
For 17 plus years, I have lived in the same house. While that may sound like a boring life, it was more than extraordinary for my growth in the community. The “Tradition of Excellence,'' which is our school’s trademark slogan that people can recite like the back of their hands, traces back through my parents, who both grew up in the same town and graduated from the same high school. My father couldn’t part from his hometown and became a teacher at that very same high school, the one I now attend. All the while, my mother always supported him while he was announcing at football and basketball games, and both of them took pleasure in finding purpose and meaning supporting the schools and community. Together, they became well-known throughout the city and township, creating a legacy for our last name. My brother soon followed, creating a local athletics page for our high school on Instagram and filling the shoes my father left for him as announcer.
During middle school, I joined the robotics team and tried to use my ideas and knowledge to benefit others. But it never felt like enough. By the time I completed my freshman year, I felt lost, like I was never doing enough for the community or others. I needed something new. One last-minute change to my school schedule, a rushed application paper, and many thanks to my advisor Mrs. Ava Butzu, I was accepted to be part of the 2018-2019 Echo staff.
This Group of students helped form and mold me into the person I never thought I would be. It was electrifying to grow in my confidence, my social skills, and finally being able to explore the lengths of my imagination. The thrill to have an official press pass and get so close to the action like being able to walk on the turf of Ford Field, feel the splash of cold water from Fenton Lake in freezing temperatures to capture the action of the Polar Plunge, and challenging myself creatively got me researching the best smoke bombs to create an emotional photo shoot.
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When I started to realize the importance of my last name, I had to honor it just as my family did. I wanted to give back in a way that could show my talents and that could contribute to society, maybe even change a few lives. I played softball and danced at the time, but I knew I could do more, that I had a greater potential. I began to think of physically building something, creating something with my own hands, which gave a small spark of becoming an engineer.
Now, three years later, I finally found a title that suits me: photojournalist. The ways I can show power, joy, grief, zest, all of those emotions with a simple click of a button. I found my role in the community, showing my imagination all while displaying the positivity and love I feel for my hometown. I found my purpose, my passion, my life, and my future. I plan to take this love with me to Grand Valley State University where I plan on majoring in Graphic Design and minoring in photography.
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