Family: Jacob Milgrim

“It’s always great to be a Lancer.” I’ve heard that phrase more times than I can even remember. I heard it freshman year from Dr. Krawitz. I heard it every Saturday morning closing out the recorded message left on the answering machine with the weekly announcements. I’ve heard a lot of similar phrases while at East. “Lancer Magic.” “Look out for each other.” “The Lancer Family.”

At this point, you might be assuming I am going to put down another five hundred heartfelt words about how much I love my “Lancer Family” and describe how there is no other school like Shawnee Mission East. I’m not. The truth is I did not find this all-encompassing family in the East student body. Those who are unaware of the other ninety percent of the student body have coined this phrase. The Lancer Family seems to ignore the clique-based social environment and discrimination that has become commonplace.

After two years at East, I was well aware of this illusion of family and felt as though my time in high school was lacking. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year that I really discovered the Harbinger and applied for the position of Webmaster. This newspaper turned my time at East around. I had never been interested in journalism, and I still do not consider myself a journalist. In fact, this is the only time my words have been printed in this publication. Instead, I’ve spent the last two years as the Webmaster.

People always ask me, “What do you do on the Harbinger?” Usually, my response is a smile, a pat on the back, and a simple, “Don’t worry about it.” I found that that was much easier than trying to explain web design or how computer languages work on our website to someone who’s never even heard the word CSS.

But even repeating my job description or describing how I fix problems on the website is not the whole truth. In order to definitively answer this question, I had to step back and look at my time on the Harbinger these past two years.

First, I did the mundane Webmaster duties. I’ve broadcasted sporting events, attempted to commentate a lacrosse game, tried my hand at photographing school events, and became quite skilled at using the Adobe Suite to produce memes. And sure, I’ve carried out the other responsibilities each staff member holds in order to make this publication a success.