For some people, a class is just a class and words are just words. Newspaper is a class that weaves simple words into intricate stories. Newspaper may just be an elective to some, but to Senior Maxine Martinez a place to achieve her goals and form friendships that would transcend into the rest of her life. 

   Maxine is a goal-oriented woman who has let Newspaper define her life and impact it in ways she never could’ve imagined. She joined freshman year because of her passion for journalism and writing, and also saw it as a possible career path and decided she would do everything in her power to succeed. A goal she set for herself at the beginning of her Newspaper journey was to become the editor-in-chief by senior year. Through her four years, she wrote until her fingers came off and proved her writing and leadership skills to become the successful co-editor-in-chief she is today. When asked how Newspaper has shaped her high school career she said “Newspaper was my high school career, it defined me and it was kind of like my niche for all my four years at Charter.” Every good memory Maxine has of high school is somehow tied to Newspaper, her friends that were brought into her life from her 1st-period class freshman year have helped shape Maxine into the incredible person she is today. Even though journalism isn’t necessarily the career path she is going down now, Newspaper opened her eyes to new possibilities. Maxine stated, “ Newspaper opened the door to other forms of media like digital art and layout and just strengthened my writing in general which I am incredibly grateful for.” In the course of four years, a simple class elective became a defining moment for the past, present, and future of Maxine Martinez.