It is so weird to think that I am writing my last piece for The Catalyst, especially given the current situation we are in. The hardest part of the COVID-19 pandemic for me has been the lack of closure on a significant chapter of my life. Some people look back on high school with only positive memories, while others consider their four years with bitterness. For me, the past four years at NDBhas been a mix of both good and bad memories, but I can definitely say that my time working on The Catalyst has been a highlight of my experience.

Many members of the NDB community know me as someone who is dedicated to activism, particularly when it comes to animal rights work. Prior to entering high school, I didn’t know how to combine this passion for social justice with my desire to work hands-on in the field with the species I hope to help protect. I have learned through my work at The Catalyst that journalism and digital communication is the link I was looking for. Through the ability to effectively communicate my future scientific findings of animal cognition and emotional capacity, I hope to inspire a movement that enables the protection of all non-human animal species.

I cannot thank the Journalism program at NDB enough for giving me the opportunity to discover this. The ability to get involved in a variety of extracurricular activities is what I value most about NDB as a school and the openness with which I was welcomed to The Catalyst as a freshman provided me with incredible opportunities over the past four years. During my sophomore year, my position as a Staff Writer afforded me the ability to attend a national journalism convention in San Francisco where I learned from leading professionals in the field. During my junior year, Journalism adviser Robert Rojas and the editors at the time took a chance on me and appointed me as News Editor. This allowed me to become more involved in the editorial staff and production of the paper in addition to the writing itself. My passion for this side of journalism led me to become Editor in Chief during my final year at NDB.

That being said, it is necessary to thank Mr. Rojas for trusting me since my sophomore year, giving me incredible opportunities and allowing me to run with any idea I had. I will always be grateful for everything I learned about journalism from you!

Another big thank you goes out to this year’s editorial staff; I am so proud of the work we accomplished and extremely grateful to have gotten the opportunity to write and edit with each one of you.

A last thank you to everyone who read our issues this year (and continues to read these articles while in this crazy situation!) The support and feedback we received after distributing each edition of the paper was amazing and made all of the hard work worth it.