Addison Pendegraft

My name is Addison Pendegraft, I’m 16-years-old and a rising Junior at Johns Creek High School. I was born in a village in New York, but then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and I’m now living in Georgia. I want to be a journalist, preferably a section editor, and an editor for novels! And I’m a really big reader, usually reading five or six books at a time. I also really like to volunteer, and I’m managing a book drive right now, which is very exciting. I’ve always enjoyed literature since I was little, often I’d rush through my handwriting classes in favor of getting more reading time. Despite that, I’d like to think I’m quite a diligent person in school, with my super stellar grades and nerdy glasses. And I perform aerial silks, which is like airborne gymnastics and very, very tricky. Though, I used to be much more active, playing soccer and horseback riding, before my asthma got worse as I grew older.

I joined my school’s newspaper class as a freshman, so I had to apply during 8th grade, which was a bit intimidating as a middle schooler. I was encouraged by my 9th grade honors English teacher, who was super supportive of me, even going so far as to write me a recommendation letter for my application. I was pretty nervous to join, but it turns out that I thankfully wasn’t the only new member. Apparently, all but one of the staff from the previous year were seniors or had quit, including the teacher. The returning member also didn’t receive any training, so it was a huge learning curve for us. Our class was also super small, with only 11 staff members total, so we each had to write and design two articles and pages per issue, all while figuring out the grammar rules, how to use the website and keeping a pretty strict schedule. A really notable issue for us was learning how to use Indesign, which gave the entire class a lot of trouble and is the vain of my existence along with chemistry. We eventually figured it out though, and if I could give a class an award for “most Improved” that year, I’d think we would be the winners.

My sophomore year went a lot smother, we got more staff members, going from 11 to 17! And I was appointed to the section editor of A&E and News sections in the newspaper, which was really thrilling for me. Editing has always been a passion of mine, so to be able to edit so often has been a real gift. I’ve also been assisting with and managing our newspaper, The Chariot’s website, which has been a cool learning experience for me and will definitely help me in the future. Last year we were able to double the amount of issues printed and heavily improve our writing, design and the overall theming and topic of the newspaper issue. We’ve been able to accomplish a lot more with this bigger staff this year, utilizing all of the trial and error we endured before. And it’s been such an incredible experience getting to witness my friends, who also only joined the class in the previous year, grow in skill and passion as we’ve gotten to know each other.

Now I’m a rising junior, and our staff will have 27 members. I truly can’t express how proud I am of the original staff and friends for how much we’ve grown together, especially during such harrowing times. I’m really happy that I was brave enough in 8th grade to apply. Not only has this class given me a bunch of opportunities, but it’s allowed me to make amazing friends, which I’m so grateful for. Next year, when I’m a junior, I’ll continue my role as a section editor and be promoted to the official manager of the website with a small team to lead. I’ll also be co-managing our social media with a fellow rising junior and probably helping all the new members as they learn to stand on their own. All of this is in preparation to hopefully take the role of EIC as a senior, which has been my ultimate goal since I decided to apply.

I hope when I’m in college, that I’ll be able to use my experience with The Chariot to improve and develop the school’s newspaper to the best of my abilities. Not only working for the newspaper, but in all my life I’ve strived to be the best I can be and work hard to achieve my goals and dreams. I’ve really been putting my all into my work at school and I really hope my diligence and experiences further my opportunities in the future. I’m quite scared for hereafter, but I think I’m already pretty close to my goal, hopefully.