By Chandler Baker & Keile Kropf, editors
One of the hardest things about senior year is saying goodbye and experiencing everything for the last time. We focus so much on the anticipation of college, graduation and summer that we sometimes forget to appreciate all the good things that already surround us. While we are ready to move forward, we’d like to take a moment and reflect on one of the most special parts of our Boulder High experience: The Owl.
For most students there is one place at the school that they are able to release their many stresses that high school brings and are able to find their passions. Whether it’s a quiet corner in the library, the photo darkroom or the shade in front of the school, it’s nice to have a place of solace when you need to get away. For us, The Owl has filled that gap. This class has never been an obligation or a drag to come to; instead, it’s been something we’ve always looked forward to. When you care about the things you do, it no longer becomes busy work.
Over the course of the last few years, the Owl/Odaroloc room has been a home inside these doors for us. The freedom and comfort of having your own place within the school has allowed us to grow. The journalism class itself is one of the few at Boulder High that allows students to take the reins by themselves and pursue the things that they are interested in through writing.
The future for The Owl is unknown. Not enough students signed up for the class for next year. We know that The Owl will continue in one form or another, but it’s a shame that more students won’t get to experience all that this class has to offer next year.
What many don’t know is that this class offers some of the most valuable building blocks in education and life that can’t be taught just anywhere.
On that note, we were privileged to have a teacher who allowed us to grow at our own paces and in our own directions. We can’t thank adviser Jeff Likes enough for all that he’s taught us about journalism and also writing as a whole. He’s given us the power to shape our own stories and explore our minds and interests.
The lone returning staff member this year is Jayden Simelda-Longe. From the day we met her, we knew this girl was going to make an impact on The Owl. You can always count on Jayden to offer a fresh and unique perspective on the world, and we know that her creativity and writing skills will take her far with whatever she decides to do in life.
That said, we are prepared to move on to the next chapter in our lives. It’s funny that it is often at the end of an experience that you realize how big of an imprint it has made. Boulder High has truly been a special place to grow up as high school students, and it’s hard to finally say goodbye.
Oregon and Vermont will be sure to bring new firsts, new bests and new beginnings for us. However, we will surely miss the warm Colorado sunshine lighting up Boulder High’s courtyard.
The Owl 