by Ching Y, Staff Writer
If I must select my favorite memory at Galileo, I would say that would be my time in Journalism class. When I was choosing my classes for my senior year, I had a free period to choose whatever class I wanted to. In the end, I selected Journalism because it was an easy writing class and I didn’t like any other available classes. What I didn’t know at the time was that this decision would impact how I’ve lived my senior year and inspired many aspects of my life.
Coming into my senior year at Galileo, I knew that every event runs on a definite schedule, for example: dances, track All City Finals, Song & Yell, and the last day of school. I would have one shot at everything that I ever want to do at Galileo. From the start of the year, I knew that there are certain things that I really want to write an article about to preserve that memory. There is a saying, “You are what you remember”. Journalism literally changed how I perceive myself because I was writing these little bits of my life onto the website.
As the year moved on to the end of fall semester, I took journalism even more seriously, deciding to put up posters around the school to let people know about the “Galileo Press” website. I knew that the people in Journalism class worked very hard to publish their articles and I wanted to promote their work with everyone else in the school. I had a lot of fun talking to strangers and random people in the cafeteria, hallway, or even the courtyard, which is something that I would have never said prior to Journalism. There was a purpose behind every question. I was more open to talking to anyone that I need to in order to get the information that I need.
Speaking of collecting information, working as a journalist at Galileo also exposed me to aspects of journalism that I never really thought about. One example is when I had to think about questions to ask, more importantly, to think about good questions to ask that would make an article interesting and easy to read. Everytime I conduct an interview, I have to think about what to ask the day before and then prepare myself for people that give undesirable responses. I often had to interview multiple people to get a better response to use as a quote.
I also had to remember to take photos related to my article like my interviewee or the setting.
Working as a journalist is not only becoming a great writer, it is also being an excellent communicator, photographer, and having a passion for truth. That passion for truth was something that I didn’t know I had. Through journalism, I found ways to get more attention to the bathroom situation and indirectly led to the installation of door stoppers and a dozen radios to teachers near bathroom hotspots. In terms of covering events, I went to our school’s football team’s games across the city and even to San Rafael one time. I also wrote stories on the cross country team and the track team because I was also on the team. I spoke to California’s Court of Appeals Justice Jackson on the phone for a quote for my article on the Black Student Union assembly. At the time of writing, I am also writing an article on school lunch because I want to know why school lunches are undersized.
After a whole year of writing and covering news happening around the school, I feel like my interests and people skills expanded positively. I enjoy the benefits of being able to write things down quickly. I remember my mother used to tell me to write journals everytime I went on a field trip at school. Now, I can easily do that because I have done it at Galileo. As I graduate from Galileo, I will miss journalism and writing for the school. Depending on how things work out next year, I might even try to write for a college newspaper and follow that passion for truth. I believe the end of high school is nothing to be worried about; it shows growth and change is a product of that.
