‘Wow, where to start?’

On the first day of journalism class each year, the newspaper advisor, Melissa Murphy, makes it abundantly clear that the course functions as a real job. In teacher lingo that means, “you need to take this seriously.” And right off the bat, it did feel like a true adult responsibility. I felt like I belonged in the newsroom — collaborating under tight deadlines and discussing journalistic ethics with my peers. Though, to be fair, “newsroom” is an affectionate name for a lovely English classroom that the journalism students have shifted around to make their home.

Producing seven print issues a year, weekly online articles and near daily social media content, the business seemed never-ending. As a staff reporter, I juggled page design and feature writing with my drama beat, but that was just the beginning. During the pandemic and remote learning, I had more free time to enhance my writing skills, confidence in interviewing and perhaps most importantly, read more articles. Serving as a copy editor in my second year, “The Associated Press Stylebook” became my favorite accessory — go ahead, quiz me.

This past year, when I was elected editor-in-chief, I knew that I needed to step even further out of my comfort zone, both as a reporter and as a leader. With the support of an incredibly talented team of editors, I was able to mentor new staffers while exploring hard-hitting reporting.

Whether it was a conversation with the principal about our school’s contentious mural or an investigation into the issue of sexual assault in our school community, I aimed to balance our school-spirited coverage with more pressing matters. I consider my finest pieces to be the articles that I saw make a difference in my community. I believe that’s what journalism is: informing the public and helping to start a conversation. At a school where transparency often felt like a lost hope, hearing administrators were reading my articles and actively addressing problems was encouraging.

With that said, not everyone took the paper as seriously as I did. There is no encounter more horrifying than putting hours upon hours of work into a print edition only to see the newspapers fashioned as hats during an emergency drill.

On a larger scale, my internship with the Daily Journal this year — where I worked on digital archives and wrote bimonthly for this column — has allowed me to share my thoughts and reporting with a bigger audience. Whether it was discussing my love for secondhand books or covering the student resource officer debate, I am grateful for having had the opportunity to write on a substantial platform.

I have learned that journalism is certainly not the job for everyone, but it sure feels right for me. The thrill of gathering sources, thinking of the perfect lede and selecting that one memorable quote are enriching challenges I don’t think I could ever get tired of. For the next four years, I will continue to explore the field as a journalism major in college. Though it was bittersweet to leave my high school newsroom, I am elated to move on to the next.

Lexi Goldstein is recent graduate of Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.