Throughout my three years on The Dispatch staff, I have been notorious for being the first to finish a story and for the fact that I cannot procrastinate or the stresses of deadlines will get the best of me. For this senior goodbye, it seems I am having the opposite issue. It is hard for me to put into words what the experience of being on this staff has meant to my high school career.

As my senior year comes to a close, I know that the most important component of my high school career and my growth as a person was The Dispatch. I have had my share of medical ups and downs throughout high school, and the only organization that stayed consistent through my absences and different procedures was newspaper class, creating a safe haven for me to creatively express myself through writing and lead people into continuing the legacy of an award-winning publication. I have many people to thank for how far I have gotten in journalism throughout high school.

To my parents: Thank you for supporting me in the path that I have taken in high school that has led me to want to pursue journalism in college. Without your encouragement and support through my roller coaster of health setbacks, I wouldn’t have committed to putting my talents into the newspaper and hopefully setting up my career.

To the 21-22 leadership team: I could not have wished for a better group to lead the staff with this year. I did not know what to expect coming into this year not being friends with any of you guys, and knowing that we all had strong personalities that could potentially have collided when trying to get work done. I am definitely pleasantly surprised with how smoothly we have led a great staff together all year. We have gotten so close and accomplished so much together, and I am so proud of the issues we put out this year. I am so proud of all of us for branching out this year, trying new things, whether it had to do with design or writing, and therefore improving our journalistic skills altogether. I know you all will do amazing things in college. 

To the returning Dispatch staff: Congratulations on a great year! I have all the faith in the world that you will step up next year and continue the prestigious paper we create. Remember that getting your own work done on time will make it much easier for you to help others!

To Reeves: I am eternally grateful for being placed in your Journalism I class in 2018. Even though I didn’t know much about what journalism was or what the class would entail, your teaching is what led me to join The Dispatch. You have always believed in me more than I have in myself, and because of that, pushed me to learn and try new things I am scared of. Even when others didn’t think it was the best option, you pulled for me to be Editor-in-Chief. I didn’t think I would grow much more as a journalist this year, but even when I thought I’d reached the top, you pushed me to expand my design skills. That is a nice way of putting it. Although I hated it at the moment, I am now much more well-rounded and grateful for you forcing me to branch out, because now I feel more prepared to tackle college journalism than ever before.

I am so excited to start a new collegiate chapter of my life with the memories and lessons I’ve learned from the Dispatch to guide me through it! Next year, I will be attending UT Austin to pursue journalism thanks to this program.

Sincerely,

Corinne Piorkowski