Abby Ketchum, a senior at South, has been working in the news media program since freshman year, later joining The Axe. For Abby, the newspaper has been a particular highlight of her South experience because it allows her, as she describes, to be “more in touch with what’s happening around the school.”
The Axe has created a special experience for Abby. It doesn’t only allow her to be part of the school community but it gives her a different experience at South. She describes the newspaper as “different from my other classes because in my other ones I’m just doing work and I come in here and it’s a lot funner.” It has also become a source of pride for her because “everything I’ve done in here I’ve been proud of. And I’m proud of all the friends I’ve made here.”
And now as her time at South draws to a close it is obvious that The Axe will lose an impactful writer. Bobbie Willis, the teacher of the newspaper, recalls that “she always does her best, ever since she was a freshman she has been a strong writer from the beginning…Abby is very reliable”
Abby is University of Oregon bound and plans to study English. Even though life after high school can be uncertain and scary, Abby is ready. Hoping to use English studies to move into journalism at the UO she reminisces on her experiences in the south.
“I’ve had a lot of different teachers here and I really liked them all, so thanks to them for supporting me [throughout] high school.”
And for future seniors,
“[Just] do your best to keep doing your work. I know nobody wants to, but it gets away from you and then suddenly it’s the end of the year and you are failing everything. That’s bad, so I would say just do your work because I feel it’s just pretty easy to stay caught up and it makes everything a lot less stressful.”
As for Abby’s future aspirations, Bobbie says, “Abby has the talent and the discipline. That discipline part is the important part for creative people. It’s like no matter how creative you are, if you don’t do your craft every single day you’re not gonna find the success that you want. I think that Abby will find it.”
Article by Ty Jones