I’m Sophia Dudich and I was only a part of the dispatch for one year. I moved to Bowie my junior year and honestly it wasn’t a smooth transition. I had a hard time adjusting to the new school especially with the academics. At my previous school I had wanted to be in the newspaper and I decided to try and join at bowie.

I am so happy I got the opportunity to join the dispatch this year, I got to experience taking photos for sports which is what I wanted to do. I also got the chance to write a couple stories and even though that wasn’t more my thing I still was so excited to be able to get the interviews and have people read my work. Throughout high school I did a variety of things at both schools. I did about 5 sports, I did mock trials, I was in student council for a little and I tried to be as involved as possible. I really want to thank my parents, my brother Ethan, and my older sister Samadhi for helping me through these past four years. My parents helped push me through every extracurricular I wanted to try and pick up during school, they always supported me. They drove me to every practice and meeting, and especially my dad for waking up at the crack of dawn for three years straight to be at every cross country meet and wrestling tournament to support me and even help coach me through it all. My older sister helped me mainly through my first two years of high school. I tried to join things she did and hangout with her as much as I could. Having my older sister to help me ease into high school was one of the biggest things to help I could’ve gotten. And last but not least my younger brother. He came into highschool right after me and even if he thinks he wasn’t a part of this journey he was. He got me into wrestling, what turned out to be my favorite sport, and how I made most of my friends at this new school. We spend a lot of our time together and somehow he always just helps me, and being able to see him go through high school right behind me has been great. Even if he didn’t want me to hangout with him and his friends he always let me and I will always be so grateful for that and I will always be there for him like he is for me.

I had a lot of highs but also a lot of lows and I don’t think I could’ve made it through without them and especially without a couple friends I’ve had but also made throughout high school. First, my best friend for years and many more to come, Raleigh. She goes to a different school now that I moved but we’ve been friends since 2nd grade and we went into high school together and honestly nothing I did these past four years she doesn’t not know about, she has been a core part of me growing up and I will forever be grateful for her and her family and everything they’ve done for me and helped me with. Second is my newest friend, Alexia. I didn’t meet her till junior year when I moved to Bowie but these past two years she has been a great part of my life. We clicked so quickly and I love being able to see her grow and have her help me through junior and senior year.

And lastly I’d like to thank my bowie wrestling coaches and mr. reeves. Thank you mr. Reeves, I wasn’t in the newspaper for my junior year but in the class I had you for I felt like I was able to always talk to you and when you gave me the opportunity to be in the newspaper I had to take it. Even though the end of this year was a bit rocky, I’m so thankful that I was able to be on the newspaper staff. Your classroom always felt welcoming and if I  needed anything I could always come to you. Finally, my wrestling coaches, Coach Dobinsky and Coach Junk. Thank you for helping me go through my junior and senior year, I don’t think I could’ve transitioned into this school without the help of you guys. So much of my Junior and Senior year was spent in the wrestling room or in coach junks classroom. I always felt so welcomed being in there and that not only is thanks to the team but the coaches that never let anyone feel like they don’t belong in the room, everyone always got a chance. I was so dedicated to the team and I feel like you coaches noticed that and were able to help me with what I needed. Special thanks to coach junk, you always let me hangout in your class and never kicked me out for being there too much, you always wanted to help with anything I needed especially with college plans that I couldn’t decide and even after I did decide you helped with every step I needed for it.