Why I’m Thankful for High School Yearbook

Even though I graduated high school three years ago, there are things I learned in my yearbook class that have helped me to this day.

When I was 10th grade, I joined my school’s yearbook organization. At the time I went to a small private school that had about 300 students from pre-k to 12th grade. I transferred schools for my junior year. My mom convinced me to join yearbook at my new school since I had already been involved with it. My new school had about 2,400 students in ninth to 12th grade, so it was a big change.

At first I was a little apprehensive about joining an organization at a new school, right away, but looking back I’m thankful I did. For starters, the yearbook advisor we had was one of the coolest teachers I’ve ever had in my entire life. She was more than just our yearbook advisor — she was like a second mom to a lot of us.

During my time in yearbook, I learned a lot of lessons that have prepared me for life and my future career, like working on a deadline and my passion for journalism. For those of you who weren’t in yearbook, it can be a stressful, but very rewarding, class. At the beginning of the school year, we were assigned pages we were responsible for. We were required to get all of the content for the page, including pictures, captions, stories and sometimes coming up with a theme. Once we began working on our pages, we had a certain amount of time before we had to submit them to be edited and, eventually, printed.

One of the biggest things I learned during my time in yearbook was my passion for working in the field of journalism. My yearbook advisor suggested public relations as a degree choice for me multiple times, but I never really took it into consideration. Here I am, three years later, about to graduate with a degree in public relations.

By the end of my two years in yearbook, we had become more than just a class. We were like a family. I am forever grateful for the things I learned during my time in yearbook.

To visit my page on The Odyssey Online, click here.