Marina Gephart
Editor-in-Chief
Well, well, well. I honestly can’t believe I’m in this moment right now—about to graduate, arranging dates and planning for college, and realizing that I’m standing at the end of a very long road. Nobody can understand unless they’ve been through it themselves, and as much as I thought I would be ecstatic right now (which I am), the feeling is extremely bittersweet. Because when I leave Heritage, I won’t only be leaving high school behind; I’ll be leaving behind my life as I know it.
I think the largest adjustment will be walking away from The Howler, which has, in one way or another, been under my control for the past three years. It really feels like my child. Newspaper has been my biggest success in my life thus far, so you can imagine how strange it feels to just leave it. And the control freak I am puts together tons of horrific scenarios in which every article has a typo and names are misspelled and captions are wrong and bylines aren’t consistent. I’m sure none of this will happen because I’m leaving the paper in very capable hands, but still. It’s bothersome.
But I do have to leave, and when I think back on my experience at Heritage, it’s been amazing. I’ve had the best teachers—Bieker, Rinaker, MS. FRYER, Mr. Strong, Massart, and, above all, the Berrigan/Scobba duo, have all been unbelievable. I’ve grown so much as a person and without these dedicated teachers I wouldn’t be who I am, academically and personally.
I’ve been so blessed as to have gone through tons of classes with my best friend Erin Roetker… people probably started to question why we were always together.
Most of all I just want to say thank you. I became me in high school. I learned to drive in the student parking lot. The majority of my friends were made in classes I’ve had. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried; I’m happy to say I’ve learned a lot at Heritage.
And I’ll never forget it.
Thank you Heritage,
Marina Gephart
Erin Roetker
Editor-in-Chief
Dear Howler Readers,
What a year it has been. Newspaper has taught me more than I ever thought it would. I was always aware leadership positions have positive outcomes. I have had multiple leadership roles but newspaper has been different.
Out of all the lessons I have learned there was one that stuck out the most and that was the effectiveness of teamwork. Now I know…how corny does that sound?
In newspaper there are many assignments that we have to lean on each other for help, support, criticism, edits or even just someone to walk with them to a classroom. There is no way that anything could ever get done with a single person working on the newspaper. We have a long process when we write stories, conduct interviews, layout pages and distribute over a thousand issues.
There have been multiple times where I have been discouraged and feeling as if I can’t do what I need to do but anything is truly possible when you have a team behind you. Two things to remember though when treasuring the team supporting you: treat everyone with respect and help others more than you think they would help you.
Heritage you will be missed. I have had a great run and have had so many experiences I wouldn’t take back for the world. I want to take time to thank all my teachers that have really inspired me to be more or have just been someone to turn to. Bieker, Berrigan, Scobba, and Rinaker you will always stick with me. Newspaper staff, I couldn’t have done it without you, so thank you for all the good times and great articles. Also to Marina, you’ve been such an awesome partner-in-crime. I couldn’t have asked for someone better to get the job done while still getting along and having a good time. Together this year we were unstoppable when it came to the media. I can’t wait what the future has to bring for us two.
Friends, you will be missed. The future is so bright for all of us and it will be interesting to see where everyone will be. Good luck and happy travels.
Best Regards,
Erin Roetker