By Gabe Kamins, Former Current Editor-In-Chief
I, like many other freshmen making the jump to high school, was nervous. According to all of the movies I had seen, high school was all about cliques. There were the “jocks,” the “nerds,” and the “goth.” I was none of these. I envisioned myself struggling to find my place, struggling to make friends, and struggling to survive the next four years. I had grown comfortable with my life in middle school, with familiar classmates and teachers by my side every day. Now it was time to embark on a new journey.
I used to look at the newspaper stacks in the media center, thinking about how cool it would be to write for the school. Of course, I never in a million years thought that I actually would. I hated writing about anything other than sports, deadlines made me anxious, and at the time, I didn’t want to pursue anything other than the classes I had to take at River Hill. I used to attend football games on chilly Friday nights, idolizing players like Luke Champion and Austin Abraham, thinking about how much fun they must be having. But I told myself that I wouldn’t play football in high school. I was afraid of the commitment, the “jock” stereotype that it carried, and the overwhelming balance of schoolwork and athletics that I would have to undertake.
Four years later, it’s hard to believe how far I came. Instead of looking at newspaper stacks in the media center, I was writing, editing, and producing them, first as a contributor, then as the Opinions Editor, and finally as the Co-Editor-in-Chief. Instead of attending football games on chilly Friday nights, I was playing in them, starting at linebacker for three seasons (two on varsity) and capturing two county championships.
None of this would have been possible if a switch didn’t flip in my brain one summer evening after my freshman year. I had just completed my freshman year, and was suddenly done with 25% of my high school career. The high school experience that everyone always talked about would only last three more years. Only I didn’t have much of an experience at all during my freshman year. My best memories were finishing an essay or project. My only friends were ones that I had already made in middle school or elementary school. And while I would eventually join the track team (very low commitment, as I was part of the “developmental team”), this was only to help me stay fit. I never went out of my comfort zone to try and actually experience high school. It was that summer evening that I decided to join the football team. While I was still afraid to meet new people and handle the time commitment, I was content with knowing that I would actually be able to somewhat experience high school during my sophomore year.
While I was having fun on the field, I was still struggling to find my place off of it. Thankfully, I made the impulse decision to sign up for Journalism. This class soon became my home for the next three years. I became friends with classmates with both similar and different interests. I developed a passion for writing and was able to write about what I wanted to write about. And for the first time in my life, I had a class to look forward to. After two years of writing, editing, and publishing, the once shy, hesitant, and afraid freshman became a leader. While “Co-Editor-in-Chief” is just a label, it truly is representative of how far I have come. Not only did I step out of my comfort zone and become part of something important at River Hill, but I worked my way up to a leadership position.
Journalism and football are the two things that define my high school experience. But if I kept the same mindset I had freshman year for the rest of high school, I never would have done either of them. Journalism led me to my first leadership position, many new friends, and a newfound interest in writing. The work also eventually trickled into the yearbook, so I soon became Sports Editor for the yearbook as well. Football led me to dozens of new friends, many life lessons, including time management, discipline, and more, as well as countless memories. While Friday nights will surely be some of the best moments of my life, it is the grueling, three-hour-long summer practices with my teammates that I will miss the most. It is during these that I discovered just how far I could push myself, to never give up, and to work as a team. Of course, at the time, I didn’t enjoy them all that much. But now, I’d do anything to experience one more.
It is important to find a way to get involved in high school. You only get four years, and clubs, sports, and any other extracurricular activities will almost guarantee you a way to learn essential skills, meet new people, and most importantly, make great memories during these years.
As a freshman, I never thought that I would experience journalism or football. Now, I can’t imagine my life without them.
Gabe Kamins served as an RHHS Talon and Current Contributor from 2018 to 2019, the Current Opinions Editor from 2019 to 2020, and the Current Co-Editor-in-Chief in addition to the Sports Editor of the RHHS Talon from 2020 to 2021. He will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2021 to 2025. Congratulations, Gabe. The Current staff will miss you dearly.