When I took over the student newspaper my junior year, it was dead.

Widgets malfunctioned, links led to blank pages, and no content had been posted in years. The class specifically dedicated to the student newspaper had been dissolved a year or two before I arrived at DHS.

I first learned about the newspaper my freshman year through an assignment Valdez gave us, but we never revisited it after that. I rediscovered it my junior year when Valdez granted me access to the site. I was basically the only student who even knew it existed!

I realized then that was exactly what I wanted to do — I wanted to bring it back to life.

It became a passion project of mine. During my yearbook period, I dedicated all of my time to navigating and improving the website. I constantly switched between tabs to edit articles, test menu layouts, and establish the newspaper’s identity.

Once I was content with the site’s look — which took forever — I turned my attention to something bigger: articles.

In April 2025, I started with news. At the time, I wanted to be a medical researcher, so I covered bird flu as my first topic — a task I assigned myself since this was still a one-woman show.

I was proud of my work but not satisfied. I wanted to write more, publish more, do more.

In August 2025, my senior year began, and my portfolio was at the forefront of my year. A senior portfolio is a collection of a journalism student’s best works and accomplishments. I decided the newspaper’s revival would be my senior portfolio, and I knew I would be the one to do it.

I was appointed Editor-in-Chief and took off immediately. Every day was something new. Whether it was editing layouts or gathering student quotes for an article, I got it done.

Eventually, Valdez began to challenge me — I had grown comfortable in my routine. Writing, editing, publishing. I wasn’t being pushed to my fullest potential. She assigned harder topics — ones that required much more nuance. Medical research and campus news are objective; opinion is not.

I started immersing myself in controversial spaces and difficult conversations while maintaining my standard tasks. It was then that I discovered my love for debate and advocacy.

Amidst the world’s turmoil of 2025, I started my own column, “Our Blessed Edit.” It was dedicated to catechesis and served as an important reminder for me throughout the year, especially when navigating through investigative work during my second semester.

Another important part of my year was photography. This was a big surprise, as I never pictured myself doing it. Our photographers are constantly running around campus, stressing over files, and attending events back-to-back. I had no interest in being a photographer.

That was until I was thrown into it. I was learning terminology and settings I had no idea existed!

Despite struggling with camera settings all year, photography changed my life in ways I never would have expected.

I spent the majority of my academic career and social life quietly out of sight. I kept myself small and stayed comfortable with what I believed I was capable of achieving. It wasn’t until I chose to change my life that I met many of my closest friends like Angel Marie, and experienced opportunities I never imagined for myself!

I would never have had these opportunities had I stayed where I was. Comfortable, afraid, and small. I grew as a writer, reporter, photographer, social commentator, advocate, and surprisingly a student advisor.

After all, it wasn’t just me now — the one-woman show ended as soon as my senior year started!

My class periods perfectly aligned with the principles classes, and somehow, I helped lead their classes.

Throughout the year, I worked closely with my students to help them grow more confident in their abilities. Most of the time we stayed on task; but the rest was spent discussing trending topics, playing online games, sneaking snacks while Valdez wasn’t looking — or just play fighting!

But, in my heart, my students taught me so much more than I taught them. It was through their passion, joy, and unique personalities they brought into the classroom each and every day that taught me the importance of patience, communication, and leadership. Being able to watch each of them grow as multimedia students was the most rewarding part of my year.

In my personal life, something within me changed. As I explored subjects, topics, and current events I was unaware of before, I began to understand something I hadn’t given much thought to as the days passed me by.

I found my passion in journalism.

Journalism brings attention to stories that go unnoticed and voices that are unheard. It’s not as simple as writing about relevant events, it’s actively choosing to understand the world in all of its beauty and imperfection. And finding ways to make a difference.

I found my identity in that pursuit: someone who seeks truth, asks questions, and isn’t afraid to participate in difficult conversations to advocate for others.

And as I move forward in this beautiful, crazy, wild ride that life is, that is what I’ll carry with me — not just reviving the newspaper, but the purpose I found in doing so.

I would like to personally thank Mrs. Alejandra Valdez for everything; I could not have done it without you and your unwavering support, wisdom, and love!

Thank you all so much for tuning in, this is your host Kaitlyn Cordova signing out!

– Kaitlyn Layla Cordova, DHS Class of 2026