Like many high schoolers who began freshman year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Basil Dracobly changed a lot throughout high school.

“I was much more reserved than I am now,” Basil said when describing his freshman self, “I think all of us freshmen at that point had this very bad sense of social awareness.” Those of us who know Basil today know that this is far from the truth; now he is one of the most social members of The Axe’s staff.

Growing more social was only one of the changes Basil underwent during high school. “I came into high school with a very definite sense I was going to go into STEM,” he said when expanding on his freshman self. Despite this, Basil is now torn between pursuing the humanities or STEM, which he partially attributes to his involvement with The Axe because it “forces you to write.”

In fact, working on The Axe has had a big impact on Basil. “I think that it made me more interested in what’s going on in the world,” he recalled. “After taking journalism my third trimester of sophomore year, I started reading The New York Times every day.” Not only did it create new interests for Basil, but it also developed new skills. 

“Newspaper has provided a great opportunity for me to be a leader and step into a position that forces me to do something with my skill set,” he said. Even the occasional arguments with other editors have helped Basil become a better leader.

Looking back, one of Basil’s favorite memories with The Axe was last year’s CTE showcase. 

“I just remember being so proud of the newspaper, being there with Aria Lynn-Skov and Elliott Hunt,” Basil recalled, “and being able to showcase all the hard work that we had put in for the newspaper over those past several months,”

The main advice that Basil would give his freshman self is to “keep your friends close” and “don’t worry about what other people think.” That’s something that’s allowed him to be more outgoing and leave his comfort zone through high school.

This fall, Basil will be attending Grinnell College, his father’s alma mater, and he does not yet know what he will major in. He will definitely take advantage of Grinnell’s free music lessons for all students, though.  I could go on about Basil’s excellence – like how he plays ukulele, piano, guitar, and violin – and how valuable he is to The Axe, but there’s only so much space on this page. Though we’ll miss his cheerful attitude and unique insights, we also know he’s on to big things.

Article by Zev Wacks