Every week, Beacon writers work amongst themselves and the student body to research, interview, write, and publish articles that reflect student life at IA, and provide a bit of interest and coverage to daily life. With the next school year steadily approaching, applications for the Journalism class are awaiting submissions for the month of January, closing on the 30th. While the workload is consistent, current students say that the experience of writing centers on learning how to shape meaningful stories while meeting real expectations.

For Poorvi Roopesh [11], a Beacon writer for 1 year, strong interviews are the heart of a good article. She explained that writers should ask “questions that are more than just yes or no, but conceptual questions,” because these questions shape the entire article they’re made for. When interviews fall short, getting an article done on time becomes difficult, making expectations such as “hav[ing] a Beacon done every… Thursday night” hard to keep in check. Another author, Tommy Steimer [12], a writer for 1 year, also noted the balance between structure and creativity being important to maintain, noting that “you’re not writing for yourself necessarily. You’re writing for a school,” while still needing the flexibility to choose a meaningful topic each week, and these expectations maintain organization and preparedness.

Weekly deadlines are the most prominent part of Journalism, and they also help build valuable skills over time, especially consistency, which Tommy explains is important simply because “life changes, but you’ll still have those deadlines,” which means responsibility and commitment must take the driver’s seat. Communication is also a major focus, as “if you’re good at talking to people, you could get really good responses out of people.” Additionally, Siddarth Suresh [12], a Beacon writer for 3 years, described that Journalism is especially rewarding because “it’s not your story, but you’re telling others’.” He also mentioned how it helped him grow even beyond just writing, saying that “prior to Journalism, I was a huge procrastinator… and I didn’t have good time management skills.” Siddarth also described the weekly releases as fulfilling, mentioning that “I love really telling other people’s stories… it makes me happy to know that I did their story some justice.”

The weekly Beacon can seem intimidating, and it certainly comes with its deadlines and demands, but writers consistently describe it as a positive and meaningful experience that supports skills and growth both inside and outside of articles. Through interviews, collaboration, and consistent work, writers gain skills that extend beyond just writing while creating stories that represent the students of IA, all in words for students to read each week.