Movie reviews. Sports. Juicy news stories. The journalism class puts together physical copies of the Sudhian newspaper each month, as well as a web version. We get to know each other pretty well because it involves a lot of collaboration to plan out the paper. Once we decide who’s writing what, it’s mostly working both independently and cooperatively to take pictures, write articles, and design pages. Here are seven reasons to consider joining the Sudhian staff:

7. Great for resumes.

Writing for a high school newspaper can be considered impressive to colleges. It provides you with extra experience with writing, photography, communication and collaboration.

6. Get your voice out there.

Within reason, we get to choose what we write about each month. If you have an opinion about something South High-related or a story you’re dying to investigate, the Sudhian is the place to do that. We get to use our individual strengths and personalities to contribute to the paper.

5. It’s different.

Most of the class period is spent working on the Sudhian, either independently or collaboratively. It’s a nice break from listening to lectures and taking notes. What’s nice about it is that we are making something together that the whole school could potentially see. It’s a different kind of class when you know you are working towards something.

4. Fancy tech.

We get pretty nice equipment! Journalism has three professional cameras that we use to photograph people and events. If you are an upperclassman and willing to do layouts for the newspaper, you can get a nicer computer for the year, too.

3. There’s more to it than writing.

A lot of people are intimidated by journalism because they don’t enjoy writing or they don’t feel they are good at it. However, writing is not the sole focus of the Sudhian. A lot of time is spent taking pictures, reaching out to people for interviews, and laying out spreads. Yes, writing is a large portion of what we do, but we are a student newspaper. We’re all still learning here, so nothing we make is perfect!

2. It offers new experiences.

Conducting interviews can open so many doors that would otherwise have been left closed. It gives you a push to meet with people who you probably wouldn’t have talked to otherwise, or to attend events you might normally have skipped.

1. It builds confidence.

Let’s face it: it takes a lot of guts to reach out to someone for an interview, or to take pictures at an event. And putting your work out there for the world to see can be hard. Don’t let that scare you away, though. We all went slightly out of our comfort zones this year, and our and confidence is better because of it.