For my entire life, I’ve had one passion: baseball. I’ve played it since I can remember, and I plan to play this game as long as I am able. But in my sophomore year, I joined the newspaper because I have a passion for sports reporting, and I figured this would be a great place to pursue that.
​I remember my first story sophomore year, which was about the baseball coach resigning at the time. From there, I found my reporting passion: writing about basketball. Our 2024 girls basketball team was really successful, and I attended every game, even traveling to McPherson, Kansas, and not having a hotel to cover the team’s tournament. Sleeping in the car driving there and back just to follow the team. All-American attitude was my first big story, and writing it really made me fall in love with writing and sports journalism.
​After basketball season, I began my first high school baseball season. Balancing playing and writing for the paper was challenging but rewarding—I contributed strongly to both until the season’s end.
​In junior year, I served as assistant editor-in-chief and sports editor. I only realized the weight of these roles when conflict divided the newsroom; I stepped up to keep us on track while continuing my own reporting. I also interned with 810 Varsity, covering high school basketball—my favorite topic—throughout the season, including our boys’ 21-2 Sunflower League champions. Building relationships with the team elevated my writing.
​Volume 59 was a strong year for the Patriot, earning a NSPA Pacemaker finalist for the first time in The Patriot’s history and many individual awards. Despite newsroom conflict, we produced quality work together.
​The summer between junior and senior year was very important for me on the baseball field, and even though I was going to be the editor-in-chief next year, the newspaper was the furthest thing from my mind. I was working to get recruited and get an opportunity to play college baseball. All that I worked for paid off when I got the opportunity to play college baseball at Butler Community College. Committing took a massive burden off my shoulders and allowed me to focus on other things, like the 60th volume of The Patriot.
​Volume 60 has had its ups and downs, but we have produced three really good issues that cover our school’s 60-year history. Starting with writing a story about a former substitute teacher who was also on the pace team when she went here. Then talking about Pat Teegarden, who has been in the South area since the very beginning, and Kate Benson, who holds almost every girls’ basketball record in the school. Then a story about Mike Morin, a former South baseball player who made it to the MLB.
​Issue four covers the last 15 years of South’s history. But this final issue means a lot as it’s my final time writing for The Patriot. The Patriot has meant so much to me, helping me grow and find another passion besides baseball, and I plan to do both for as long as I can. My baseball coach always tells me something that is intended for baseball, but also just life in general.
“You can choose to struggle like no one now and like no one later, or you can choose to live like everyone now and struggle like everyone else later.”