Senior editor Carmen Romo goes through a checklist in her head as she works on a spread. Photos? Check. Story? Check. Captions, headlines, and secondary content? Check. She finishes her spread, then helps other staffers make final adjustments on theirs, such as getting a quote from a student or constructing a headline; Romo and the other staffers help one another out by taking photos for different spreads or doing other small tasks.

“The spreads that are the best have the best photography,” said Romo. “Content drives design, and that’s what happened in the Global Club spread.”

Senior editor Carmen Gonzalez explained the process of assigning spreads.

“Usually we get more than one spread because we have so many pages in the book, but we all work on certain spreads for each deadline,” she said. Gonzalez took the photos for the Global Club spread.

Each spread, however, doesn’t start from scratch. “We have layouts, so staffers can choose which layout they want according to which photos they want,” said Romo. “You select which photos you think are the best, you create your own secondary, which you have templates for, and you have templates for the photo package, and then we have layouts for headline designs.”

“Being creative isn’t an easy thing, but we really try to push the creative hand,” said editor-in-chief Linsonyda Ourng. “The cover is very, bam, in your face. After listening to other criticism from last year’s book, we kind of improved on that [creativity], and this year, we really wanted to emphasize it.”

The staff decided their theme and design elements before the school year even starts. “During the summer, we went to a workshop and that’s where we decided everything that was going to be in our yearbook,” said Romo. “We choose a gradient background with a big jaguar in the middle. Our main color would be teal because we felt that teal was being neglected. We wanted a spirited book with certain design elements that we haven’t seen throughout the country.”

The staff managed to do just that — use design elements that are unique and uncommon. Seconds, last year’s book, earned a place in Ideas That Fly,  “a book where our publisher takes certain designs from all books around the country, new ideas that you haven’t seen before, and puts it into that book,” said Ourng. Begin, the yearbook from Gregori’s inaugural year, earned 9th in the category for small books at the Seattle Journalism Convention in 2012. At the San Francisco Journalism Convention, the book earned 7th in Best of Show, while individual awards were given out to Sara Hernandez, Carmen Romo, Linsonyda Ourng, and Adriana Lomas.

“I have students who care very much about having a quality product for their school,” said yearbook advisor Melissa Alvarado. “That’s something you can’t teach. They either have that desire or they don’t.”

Alvarado looks for that desire when choosing her staffers for next year. “I go through a recruitment process, I don’t let just anybody join the staff,” she said. “I actually go through a process where we have meetings and interviews. It’s quite lengthy and tiresome.”

Sophomore and first time staffer Felicia Martinez managed to make it through the process. “At the beginning [of the year], I had a lot of editors help me,” she said. “Now, I have them help me every once in awhile, but usually, I do it on my own.”

The last deadline for the book was March 28. After that, the staff waited to get proofs back, and then they made minor corrections, like correcting the spelling of someone’s name. Proofs were due on April 17, and that was the final deadline. Romo and Ourng printed out every page and looked at every detail, circled things that needed to be changed, and then assigned a staffer to every page. The staffer fixed those mistakes, and as soon as everyone finished, the book was officially done.

Because meeting deadlines is such a challenge, Alvarado breaks them into smaller and more manageable units for her staff. “If our actual deadline is on the 5th, and you tell the kids the 5th, you’re gonna miss your deadline,” she said. “By setting mini deadlines, it takes a lot of the pressure off.”

Alvarado also helps keep the pressure off by throwing parties for her kids.

“It gives you something to look forward to,” said Romo. “You work really hard for three weeks, but then you know you have a week to party and ease off of the work.”

“A lot of time I’m just sitting on the computer, and I like it,” said Gonzalez. “You get to do everything. You get to write a story, you get to take pictures, you get to create secondary that you basically come up with yourself, and it’s a really creative outlet for me that I enjoy.”

This year rolled around, and I gave up cheerleading. I became editor in chief of our yearbook staff. I won Winterfest/Homecoming queen. I was chosen to be a part of the Every 15 Minutes program. I recieved a JAG award and was admitted to a college that I almost didn’t apply to! Instead of being in front of people as a cheerleader, I became a total yearbook nerd, A.K.A. yerd.

Even though journalism isn’t the path I am choosing to take, I took more out of this class (yearbook) than any other class. I learned how to be responsible, a leader, and created friendships that I know will last. I thought I planned it all out, but my impulse decisions led to the best thing that happened at Gregori for me; joining yearbook.

The National FFA Organization has provided me with an immense amount of opportunities that have allowed me to discover my interests, passions, and love for agriculture. It is not just the organization that has been the driving force of my interests in agriculture, but it has truly been the experiences I have embraced while being an FFA member. FFA has provided me with moments of influence, which have sparked a fire of passion to use what I have to serve where I am. From conferences that are centered on improving agriculture literacy, developing leadership skills, and emphasizes fact that every single human being relies on agriculture.

One conference that has truly impacted me was during my summer going into senior year. I had the opportunity to attend a weeklong conference for FFA members of all ages entitled Washington Leadership Conference. This conference focused on discovering yourself, understanding the world’s needs, service, and most importantly how to take action. WLC consisted of 300 FFA members that had the passion to serve and make a difference in the world today. Everyone in attendance was inspiring, impressive, and ambitious. As the conference continued we attended sessions about the world’s current issues, which included poverty, health, and discrimination. The most influential session was the session on poverty in which we did a poverty simulation to illuminate the class divisions of wealth. Out of the 300 people in attendance over three-fourths of us were sitting in the dark on the floor.

Being one of the people on the floor, our dinner that night would be a plate of rice to be shared with 20 people around us. The physical representation of poverty inspired me to make a difference in the world, and in the lives of others. FFA has given in one in a lifetime experiences from serving as one of the 36 California National FFA Delegates at the 86th National FFA Convention and Expo to traveling all across California competing on the Agronomy judging team. It is because of the National FFA Organization that I have been able to develop my leadership skills, gain more knowledge about the agriculture industry, and meet members that will forever influence me to continue to serve others. I will always be an FFA member at heart, with or without the blue corduroy jacket.

Gregori’s very first year, I was put into Ms. Beatty’s  sophomore English class. When I first met Ms. Beatty, I knew she would be special to me. She was filled with enthusiasm and perseverance, and right away she became one of my favorite teachers. As the year went by, Ms. Beatty and I became close, and she became like another older sister for me to look up to. She was always fun-loving, and got the whole class excited to learn. At the end of the year, she told us that she had nominated someone from our class for the Jag Award, and although I hoped it was me, I never thought I had a chance. About a week later, I received a letter in the mail, saying that i had been awarded. I was so excited and honored that someone I looked up to so much recognized me. Ms. Beatty then convinced me to join leadership my junior year, where I developed the skills to be a leader and I met some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Ms. Beatty didn’t make leadership just about planning activities, she made it about leading, inspiring, and helping others. As a class, we became a family, and we have been able to make Gregori an enjoyable place for all of our students.

Ms. Beatty is part of just about every school function there is. As Activities Director, she helps plan CLAW, both homecomings, Powder Puff, rallies, Winter Formal, Battle of the Sexes, Sadies, Jag Idol, Prom, Day on the Green, every senior activity, and about a million other things. Aside from all of that, she is also in charge of CSF, Mock Trial, and the Kyoto Exchange program. Ms. Beatty is always busy, but she never forgets about her students, and she is always there to guide us, give us advice, make us laugh, educate us, or just listen to our problems. Ms. Beatty isn’t just a teacher, she’s everything wrapped up into one. If I would have never met Ms. Beatty, I’m not sure that I would have half of the goals that I do today, and I probably wouldn’t be on my way to college. Being her student really inspired me to become a teacher myself, and when I do, I hope that I am at least half as amazing as she is. Without Ms. Beatty’s dedication, Gregori, and myself, would be extremely different. So thank you Ms. Beatty, for all that you have done, all that you do, and all that you continue to do.

Only once have these two feelings come together on one day, in a few moments within the day, to create something I will never forget.

Fall Homecoming is always a stressful week for me, and this year was no exception. Being in leadership, playing in the powder puff game, going to all my classes, and preparing for the Friday rally as a varsity cheerleader stretched me to my limits.

I was excited all day, ready for the rally and the game. And I was having such a fun time performing in the rally—right up until I pulled my hamstring. I didn’t really think about what that would mean for the rest of the day, and just tried to shake it off.

But when I arrived at Johansen at 3, I was in so much pain, and I just kept focusing on something else to distract me, and there was plenty of work to do. Building the float in just a few hours is hard work, and plus I was running back and forth between rehearsing the dance for the senior float and cheerleading.

The seniors involved with the float pulled out a win, and I performed at half time with a smile on my face, enjoying the brief pause from all the chaos that homecoming night brings, to just perform for my school. I even got to watch my sister get crowned homecoming queen, just to make the night even sweeter.

But when I got back up on my cheer box after half time, everything hit me at once. The pain in my leg, the exhaustion from the week, and the fact that we were losing 49 to 0 in the last football homecoming game I was really going to be a part of.

Then all of a sudden, we scored a touchdown. And there was this giant cheer from the spirit section, and this perfect moment happened, where it didn’t matter that we were still losing and that I was still in pain and exhausted. The only thing that mattered was that the students, the cheerleaders, and the athletes all felt the same joy and elation for the fact that when the boys played, everyone watching was invested in the game.

For that moment, we weren’t the new school, still trying to make a name for ourselves. Gregori was an established program, something I was really proud to be a part of. It was the first time that I felt that the school was really one big group of people that could come together and support each other.

I will never forget how that moment infused me with the extra energy and happiness I needed to make it through the night. And Gregori did lose. It was bound to happen, but the team ended up scoring twice.

It’s those little things that make the moments in high school so much sweeter, so much better. And that’s something I wish I had known from right from the get go.

That day was a mix of hiding under the blanket moments with very few freezing moments. But that small window of Gregori unity was well-worth anything else in that night.

It’s the little things that make a moment. And it’s that specific little thing which makes that fall homecoming game my moment of senior reflection.

That Saturday, the competition was at Enochs High. The ten of us gathered at the school in full uniform, wearing black pants and a black shirt with hair and makeup done. There were tons of other guards and drumlines in the parking lot, practicing on the tennis courts, or in the middle of campus, or on the basketball courts. We walked in a single-file line to an open area by the N building, sitting on the dirty sidewalk and eventually beginning our dance warmup.

Normally, on show days, I’m freaking out. Here’s what goes through my mind: I have the entire gym floor to just myself and nine other girls, most of whom have never really done this before, and I have to toss wooden and metal objects into the air and hope I catch them on the right counts and in time for the music and while trying not to hit anyone else on the floor. Then, add on the fact that three or four judges are tape recording you and critiquing everything you’re doing. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, remember that the bleachers are full of parents watching you on one side and other colorguards watching you, judging you, on the other side of the bleachers.

Yeah. A typical Saturday morning for me.

That morning, we finished our warm up and gathered our equipment and bags, spraying last-minute hairspray on each other and doing little touch-ups on our makeup. We got in another single-file line, heeding reminders from David, our instructor, about remaining calm and not staring at the other guards as they practiced.

The Gregori drumline was waiting by the performer’s entrance at the gym, ready to help us with bags, shoes, equipment, and our 400-pound floor. There was one colorguard performing ahead of us, so we gathered inside the gym next to the bleachers, waiting for our turn. David gathered us in a circle and pep-talked us into performing, expressing, and just having a good and exciting  show. When the guard’s music ended, we grabbed our equipment and prepared to walk out onto the floor where everyone could see us.

“And from Modesto, California, Gregori High School!” The words from the announcer echoed in my mind as I tried to focus and set my equipment correctly. I reminded myself of the new rifle work we had learned, mentally going over it and hoping the rest of the girls could remember it and not mess up.

The four minutes, the length of the song, always goes by in a blur. But that time, I remember very clearly what had caused problems.

To be fair, we had just learned this rifle work and we hadn’t really had time to go over it in great detail. The rifles had been set wrong, meaning they were in the incorrect places. Because of this tiny little mistake, my rifle was nowhere to be seen when it came time for me to pick it up because another girl had already grabbed it by mistake. My rifle is a different weight than the other rifles, and that affects my tossing and my level of comfort as I perform.

After that little hiccup, the last minute of the show went by in what felt like two seconds. We finished to a cheering crowd, grabbed our equipment, gathered our floor into a bundle, and carried it out of the gym doors onto the blacktop, where we’d un-bundle the floor and fold it correctly.

I was angry. I was frustrated. I couldn’t believe that someone had been so foolish as to set their equipment in the completely wrong spot and throw everything off. As we gathered in a circle around David, who always talks to us after a show to see how we feel we did, I couldn’t even speak. I looked around at the other girls, and I just wanted to yell. I wanted to cry. I had never done so badly in a show before, and what struck me the most was that it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t have seen that coming or controlled it.

I saw the other girls standing around me, and they looked upset. Not one was smiling; in fact, a couple of them were crying. David kept talking about something, I don’t know what; I didn’t hear anything he said until the girls began moving towards the floor, and I realized he was done speaking and now we had to fold our huge floor.

The floor is huge. Have I mentioned that? It takes more than ten girls to fold it, and that’s why the drumline helps us fold it after shows. I directed the drumline, telling them what to do and when to do it. It was a couple minutes later that I noticed that none of the rookies on the guard were helping. That was not fair. I yelled at them to come fold their own floor, that the drumline didn’t need to help anymore because the guard needed to take care of their own business and get this floor folded and put way so we could move on.

I calmed down after the floor was folded. We were all talking, staying by the floor one last minute before we had to put things away. I saw our parents standing on the other side of the blacktop, waiting for us. I saw the rookies on the team still upset, keeping to themselves. I saw another girl on the team being extremely optimistic, saying that our show hadn’t been that bad and maybe another guard did worse and we’d still score well. None of this really registered at first.

My better judgement began to kick in. I realized that as guard captain, I needed to be the example, I needed to be calm and not blow up on any of them. This was their first year, only the second show of the season, most of them didn’t know what they were doing. We were new, and the girls needed me to tell them that it was okay to make mistakes. After all, that show wasn’t championships. At that time, there were still three shows left, three opportunities to make up for small problems.

None of my AP classes, my leadership courses, or the little leadership camps I had attended prepared me for that moment when I really was forced to be a leader. That experience, which happened over the span of maybe fifteen minutes, taught me more than a week-long leadership course had ever tried to teach me — that you need to be an example when other people look up to you. You can’t let your emotions get the best of you, and as a leader, or a captain, it’s your responsibility to make sure everyone on your team isn’t feeling awful about themselves.

I certainly will take that lesson and that excitement over having a boring show.

As I stood there, he read, “What are some things that qualify this student for financial help?” Of course my reaction was, “uhm, I don’t know?” Then I started to name all of things that I was embarrassed to talk about, but that day Leitner said, “This is when the bad things become good.” I didn’t understand it at the time, and he probably didn’t mean it to be life changing, but what he said has affected me so much.

I probably still don’t fully understand what Leitner meant, but what I took from it is like that saying “finding the light at the end of the tunnel.” My senior year was the hardest year for me because at one point I didn’t have a place to live, my mom had two jobs, family feuds, friendship loss, heartbreak, basically a big mess. During everything I thought things couldn’t get any worse, and I didn’t think anything good would come out of it all.

This year I have learned that colleges like to reward those who have gone through hardships or life changing experiences, so what I took from it is to not be embarrassed of my past. Clearly, I’m not going to be rewarded for horrific events in my life, but I have the power to make something good come out of something bad. It is up to me if I want to make things worse or if I want to make things better.

On the journey to finding myself, I learned that distancing yourself from certain people isn’t always a bad thing. Yeah, you might miss out on stuff but being away from it all can be good. By doing this, I was able to settle into my own personality so that with or without my friends, I was still me. From the past I’ve learned that as “amazing” and as “one of a kind” a person may seem, you can always live without them. Somehow, someway, the sun will still rise in the morning and the school bell will ring at the same time and life will continue even if that person is not there holding your hand. The world is composed of over a billion people. There is someone for everyone out there. You just need to be true to yourself. I learned a lot my senior year. I learned that only you can make yourself happy and you should never settle for less than what you deserve. You have to learn to be comfortable with yourself and your personality.

In the end, high school is a rollercoaster. The experiences I either went through or simply witnessed will travel with me as I move on with my life. I will do my best to continue to not fall into the dangerous traps of life, enjoy every last moment I have at Gregori High School and always stay true to my personality, which will continue to grow to be that much more weird.

I met a lot of cool people there that liked to do what I loved to do. While we were there, we entered write-offs (competitions) and took classes about broadcast, yearbook, or newspaper, whichever you wanted.

Everyone from Gregori won some kind of award, which hasn’t happened before. Me and my partner, Annie Mathews, won the Superior medal (the highest you can win) for our broadcast commerical/PSA about Day of Silence; I really didn’t expect that, and it definitely caught me by surprise. I’m really proud of us all.

I also learned how to be a better reporter, and I grew closer to everyone that went on that trip. I never thought that multimedia sophomore year would’ve led to the forming of JNN. I really feel like we’re a family now, and it’s sad that this year is coming to a close. I’m definitely going to miss everyone in JNN that made a huge impact on my life. I really love them and I hope we all keep in touch. JNN I love you!

Some of the events I’ve arranged include collecting recyclables at the Peace Officers Memorial Run and the Modesto Marathon. By building relationships with people within our community that are also passionate about preserving our environment, I’ve been able to bring the club these types of opportunities.

One of our major events this year was having Tyregirl come and speak to our club. Because I’m also part of Teens Run Modesto, I was offered the opportunity to have her as a guest speaker during one of our meetings. This woman named Rima, who flew to Modesto from London, runs marathons around the world dragging a tire. Her goal is to inspire people to reduce their waste and not limit themselves to only recycling. She wants people to live a healthy lifestyle, which means they’re aware of their negative impact on the world and therefore try to do something to minimize it. Her visit was very eye opening. We need to reduce, reuse and repair thing in order to truly minimize our effect on the environment; she even inspired me to buy my prom dress at a thrift store instead of creating more waste by buying a new one. She helped me realize that we’re still creating waste even though we recycle it.