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Junior Victoria Sabates tries to kick the ball into the goal. Photo by Molly Gasal

By Meghan Shirling

Posted April 8, 2013

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I thought I was going to die. Freshman me stood qu

I thought I was going to die. Freshman me stood quivering at the front of the journalism room, sweaty hands jammed in my pockets, and head down. I desperately tried to avoid the gaze of over 40 new classmates.

I was already nervous as one of only three freshmen who joined the Harbinger staff that semester, and on top of that, we were finally returning to in-person classes after a semester of online school due to COVID-19. Not a great start — but things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Tate — the all-powerful final boss of journalism advisors, and the villain in this story — was leading a lesson on how to take criticism. He said it was based on a scene from “The Mighty Ducks” where the goalie is tied to the goal and his teammates drill hockey pucks at him full-speed. Except instead of a player, it was me, and instead of pucks, my classmates started hurling every insult they could think of at me. Great.

Overlapping shouts of “Boo,” “You suck!” and far more unsavory things I can’t write here filled the room as I just stood there praying that they wouldn’t kick me off staff. This “lesson” felt less like a teaching moment and more like a near-death experience.

But that exercise in public humiliation taught me a valuable lesson: If I can survive whatever that was, I could do this Harbinger thing.

To read more, click the link in bio.

#storybygreysonimm #photobyrileyscott #socialmediabybridgetconnelly #pagedesignbygreysonimm

OMG obsessed, one sec. Love that font! I love!!!

OMG obsessed, one sec.

Love that font!

I love!!!!

To others, these seem like basic teenage texts. To me, they’re my greatest pride and joy — texts I received from Harbinger editors during my sophomore year.

The “little things” — like kind texts — are deeply meaningful to me as I’ve grown up literally around the world, moving between places like Singapore and New York City for my dad’s job.

To read more, click the link in bio.

#storybybridgetconnelly #photobyrileyscott #socialmediabylucystephens

Ever since I joined staff my sophomore year, I kne

Ever since I joined staff my sophomore year, I knew I’d eventually have to write my senior column.

So, two weeks ago I started brainstorming by making a list of everything that I’ve learned from Harbinger. I wrote down time management, communication skills, talking to adults…then I stopped. It’s impossible to create a bulleted list of everything I’ve gained from Harbinger — my vocab simply isn’t expansive enough.

And so, as Tate urges all writers to do, I’m going to show — not tell — a few moments where I gained a little something from staff.

To read more, click the link in bio.

#storybyaanyabansal #photobyrileyscott #pagedesignbygreysonimm #socialmediabysydneyeck

The world doesn’t know what the word “harbinge

The world doesn’t know what the word “harbinger” really means.

“What’s a harbinger? A messenger of doom?” my lawyer father joked, in his typical English-major fashion, last year when I became an assistant editor of The Harbinger. Sure, that may be what the dictionary says — but Merriam-Webster is wrong:

Harbinger is stomping through a Journalism 1 class on Halloween deadline day with my arms crossed, rocking a scrawling Crayola marker mustache, plaid button-down and Tate-style slip-on shoes to spook the freshmen.

Harbinger is running through the library to get outside just in time for a staff sunset picture. Then doing cartwheels in the parking lot before getting back to PDFing.

To read more, click the link in bio.

#storybykatiemurphy #photobyrileyscott #pagedesignbygreysonimm #socialmediabysydneyeck

Defining moments from the 2023-2024 school year in

Defining moments from the 2023-2024 school year in photos.

#designbycarolinemartucci
#designbyclarapeters
#photobymaggiecondon
#photobylivmadden
#photosbycarolinemartucci
#photobykennaharrington
#photosbyclarapeters
#socialmediabylylaweeks

The Class of 2024’s post high school plans.

The Class of 2024’s post high school plans.

Sitting down in my freshman year Journalism 1 clas

Sitting down in my freshman year Journalism 1 class, I spent five agonizing minutes trying to get the courage to walk over to Tate’s desk. Finally, I approached him and asked — with a shaking voice — if he could look over my story.

As he read it, he harshly pointed out every flaw. The lead was cliche. My interviews were boring. The story had no focus. After three minutes of him tearing apart the story I had spent two weeks writing, I squeaked out a “thank you” with tears forming in my eyes and asked if I could go to the bathroom.

I immediately broke down crying.

When my mom picked me up from school that day, I told her I wasn’t going to do journalism next year. Clearly I wasn’t cut out for the whole Harbinger thing. It wasn’t until she forced me to call a former staff member, who told me about how she loved deadlines and her fellow staff members, that I decided to give it a try.

To read more of Maggie Kissick’s senior column, click the link in bio.

#storybymaggiekissick
#socialmediabylucystephens
#photobyrileyscott

Congratulations to the class of 2024. Pick up a co

Congratulations to the class of 2024. Pick up a copy of Issue 16 around East or look on the Harbinger website throughout this week to learn more about the class of 2024

#socialmediabymaggiekissick
#photobyrileyscott
#photobykennaharrington
#pagedesignbygreysonimm
#pagedesignbykatiemurphy

Find the 16 issue of the Harbinger today. #socia

Find the 16 issue of the Harbinger today.

#socialmediabypaigebean #videobypaigebean

The Sophomore StuCo flag football tournament took

The Sophomore StuCo flag football tournament took place on April 28 — raising money to create connections within the sophomore class. The tournament cost $10 and all the proceeds went to the winning team.

The winning team, “Team 1,” raised $80 and consisted of sophomores Eric Schlote, Jack Reeves, Mete Ozkan, Linus Mai and Vince Kopp.

The flag football tournament was a single-elimination game that had a turnout of around 55 students and eight teams, according to sophomore StuCo representative and member of the school flag football league Georgia Boyd. Around 55 students and eight teams attended.

To read more, click the link in bio.

#storybyreesedunham #socialmediabylucystephens #photobyfrancescalorusso

The seniors had their senior sunrise on April 26.

The seniors had their senior sunrise on April 26. The seniors wore sweatshirts and t-shirts representing their future colleges while eating Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwiches.

To view more of this gallery, click the link in bio.

#photobycarolinehoffman
#socialbylucianamendy

Girls swim and dive will compete in the Sunflower

Girls swim and dive will compete in the Sunflower League Finals at 9:30 a.m. at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center.

#socialmediabyzanelaing
#photobyameliewong

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