I remember I always wanted to take Journalism. I originally signed up for it in 8th grade, but the week before my freshman year, I decided to switch to Chorus to fulfill my fine arts requirement. But that first week I could not stop thinking about Journalism class and wondering what they were doing and studying in that class. So once I was able to switch out and into Journalism 1 I did and I remember specifically that day how Ms. Borrelli greeted me with a smile telling me she’ll catch me up on what I missed. Reflecting back on the four years of high school, I can’t believe I almost wasn’t in the Pitch because it has been such a big part of my life the last four years.
The Pitch didn’t spare me from good memories. I remember everything from the first staff announcement party to the last staff announcement party, from the first time I was told I was going to be on the Editorial Board to the second time I was told I was going to be on the Editorial Board, from receiving a CSPA award to a Pitch Paper Plate Award, from the J-Day trip to the Secret Sno Flow, from the countless story meetings to the 40 stories I wrote in the three years and lastly going between sources around the school building to get the scoop.
A story that highlights my and everyone’s Pitch experience is one time Mrs. Borrelli wasn’t here and a Sub was covering for her. It was during 4th period and after the bell rang, almost everyone on the EB table stayed still, either everyone stayed to continue chatting, finishing up a story or just to eat and hang out. The sub looked at us weirdly like aren’t you guys rushing out of class after the bell rings like literally every single high school student does when the bell to lunch rings. And I think this sums up my Pitch experience, it is one of the only parts of school that you actually want to do and be part of that cool and chill environment in 193 where I get to do what I love every day and joke around with Katie and Jona every day.
High school’s been fun. I cherish this stage of my life a lot and only have regrets over things I wish I did more of. My advice to underclassmen is don’t overwhelm yourself and put a 100% into things YOU are passionate about. And to join The Pitch, you don’t even need to be a good writer, there are so many other jobs to do and it is such a rewarding experience.
Lastly, I want to say thank you to so many people. Thank you to everyone in The Pitch who participated in the story meetings, thank you to Mr. Atencio, Mr. Joy and Mr. Rodman for helping me figure out what I wanted to do in life, thank you to Katie for being such a supportive friend and writer through everything, thank you to my sister, Maram, for putting up with me through the college admissions process, thank you to last year’s and this year’s EB for always being the dream team and lastly thank you to Ms. Borrelli for being the best mentor and teacher, I’ll never forget you or The Pitch. And to quote Troy Bolton in High School Musical 3, “Once a wildcat, always a wildcat.”
