I still remember the first minute I walked into WJ as a 9th grader, back in 2022. My dad had dropped me off in the carpool loop, I put on my facemask, walked up probably about 5 stairs, stopped and ripped off the mask. Being a shy kid who struggled during COVID, the mask helped me keep to myself and keep me comfortable in my shell. That feeling of comfortability that I had always found nice, also kept me excluded, isolated and antisocial. On that step of the staircase back in August of 2022, the taking off of my mask marked a significant and symbolic moment for me, where I decided I wanted to change who I was. Rather than being that quiet kid in the corner of the classroom, I wanted to be the one always talking to his friend, cracking jokes in the back of class and making school a fun time rather than something I just wanted to get through as fast as possible. That moment back in 9th grade truly was a turning point in who I have become throughout high school. Although I still have moments where I’m that same shy kid, I’m at a point today where I think the person who I was almost four years ago would not be able to recognize who I have become today, and much of that is thanks to that moment in 9th grade.

To say senior year went by fast would not do it justice. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were painting the shed behind the football field, and making homecoming plans, and applying to colleges, and praying for one more snow day and I could go on and on. Now the shed will be repainted, and we just finished prom, and we’re committed to college, and we aren’t ready for school to end. Although the year is coming to an end, it has been an absolute blast. Anatomy first period, cracking jokes with my friends in the back of the room and definitely paying attention to Mr. Grimes. AP Lit, where I genuinely don’t know how Mrs. MacFadden dealt with my table both semesters. But in the end, it was a class that I went into thinking I’d hate at the beginning of the year, but became one of my favorite classes. And then ending the day with seventh period AP Stat, watching Shawn the Sheep in the back of the class. And of course there’s also Pitch, but I’ll get to that soon.

And then there’s also the memories I made out of school this year–going to the Washington Monument at 3 a.m. with friends just because we felt like it, missing a whole week of school to go back to Argentina, the last year of Friday night lights, and the random sidequests me and my friends would go on just for the fun of it. All these moments made this year unforgettable.

My love of being on The Pitch came from a love of journalism I have had my entire life. Back in elementary school, I would write my family our own newspaper. I’d flip open my mom’s computer, stay burrowed under the blanket of my bed, and write the most random articles that could come to mind. Once finished, I’d print way too many copies of this “newspaper” on my family’s printer, breaking it I don’t know how many times and wasting countless ink. There is something special to me about writing things for others to read. That passion is part of what made Pitch the best class I’ve taken.

At this point, Pitch doesn’t even feel like a class to me. It’s one of the few classes throughout high school that I have actually looked forward to having on a daily basis, and I don’t even remember the last time I have thought to look at my grade for Pitch (not because it’s easy, but because that’s not what I’m taking the class for). From being “bossed” around by Seyun, to my vending machine runs with Riley and Graeme during press (vending machine big back award winners btw), to the hours, which probably totaled days, of archiving old Pitch Issues and 3-peating distinguished sites with Jay and Bea, to going on a J-day adventure with many of my EB counterparts, three years and 32 stories later, I have made countless memories and friends from J1 back in sophomore year all the way to now in Pitch. Pitch is many things, but it’s never boring. And you can’t talk about Pitch without talking about Mrs. Borrelli…The Borrelli Effect is indeed real, and I could not imagine Pitch without her as the teacher. Not only was she an amazing advisor for our newspaper, always knowing what to do or want our paper needed, but she’s also someone who genuinely cares about every student who walks into room 193.

As I move on to Indiana University up in Bloomington, I’m excited for what the future holds for me, and I’m grateful for who I have become and the people and experiences who have shaped the person I am today.

The three words I will continue to live by are the three words my dad says to me everyday as I leave the house for school: “Dude…Be Good.”