Although Averi Caldwell already has a degree in journalism and significant experience in the field, she feels like she is making up for lost time in graduate school.

“I really like it,” Caldwell said, “Not only is it giving me a chance to get two years of my college experience back, but I have more time to gather skills I would like for the industry.”

As a graduate student of the University of Georgia, Caldwell is pursuing a master’s degree in the field of communications, and this opportunity has remained extremely important to her. One of the reasons she values this experience is because during her own undergraduate  experience, she was forced to go online for two years due to the widespread COVID pandemic Her master’s program is helping make up for  the lost time.

“There’s a whole other group of people that you’re able to communicate with, which is extremely helpful in an industry that requires communication,” she said.

Impressively, Caldwell knows both English and Spanish, which is helpful in the world of journalism. However, Caldwell’s achievements extend far beyond the world of language. Going from a small-town to a large institution, she learned to adapt to her new environment.

“I love it, while I love the people that I met growing up, I definitely enjoy a faster paced life,” she said.

By attending the University of Georgia, Caldwell spent time at a University that was more than double the size of her hometown, placing her in a much bigger environment than what she was used to. Despite this, Caldwell was able to excel contributing to various school publications  like The Red and Black, as well as Columns, the school’s online paper for faculty and staff. In addition, she made contributions to other publications, like The Atlanta Journal Constitution and InfUSion, showcasing her adversity in situations that might petrify some.

Caldwell thinks journalism is an important part of society, which is one reason why she feels she is making a positive impact. “It’s good for a country to have informed citizens, and that includes being informed of what kind of media they’re consuming.”

Some people know what they want to do from the time they’re young. For Joe Dennis, it was a different story.

“I don’t want to write,” he said during his teen years, “That’s boring.”

That was Dennis’ response when asked to write for volleyball at his freshman orientation. His whole life had been defined by his many hobbies and different interests, and journalism never even came of interest to him until he realized he could cover his crush, Tara Fenske. He is from Naperville, Chicago and a proud sports fan as well as many other things to this day. Dennis’ many hobbies, interests, and skills are what shape him to this day.

Dennis grew up on the South Side of Chicago, originally wanting to be a baseball player. Even though he wasn’t good enough to get too far with it, his love of baseball never left him. He is still a passionate but disappointed White Sox fan to this day. He also supports the Chicago Bulls and Bears, but they haven’t had much success recently either. 

If Dennis is in the vicinity, chances are a fedora isn’t far behind. 

In 2012 while at the Peabody awards, Dennis ran into a street vendor selling fedoras that was looking to sell. When he was told he would look good in a fedora, a new door was opened for him. From that moment on, Dennis’ fedoras have become a part of his identity.

“I’m Filipino, Bruno Mars is Filipino, and he rocks the fedora, so maybe I can do it,” he said. “Now it’s kind of like part of my image.”

While growing up, the radio was always on for Joe.

“I loved listening to the radio every night, doing my homework in my bedroom,” Dennis said. “So I became a professional disc jockey, and emulated that energy that [radio hosts] had to their shows.”

He even chose North Central College with the goal of going somewhere with a good radio program. With that skill, Dennis finds himself the public address announcer for the Georgia hockey team. This has always been a passion of Dennis’ and something that helped him get to where he is today.

From Dennis’ obsession with Kesha, to the AP stylebook, there are so many things that make him unique. All of these have helped him get to where he is today in journalism. 

“Every experience you have on this earth informs,” he said. “Makes you a better journalist.”

Hello! My name is Ashley and I am 14 years old ,I am a rising freshman and will be attending Arabia Mountain High School in the fall. I do not have any journalism background but I love to write about things that I am most passionate about that could be ranging from talking about my favorite artist which is Frank Ocean at the moment to talking about social issues in the media today. I believe that the different perspectives that people have are so interesting and honestly so refreshing and sometimes very much needed

Growing up I’ve always liked giving my perspective on topic as well as hearing others. I believe that it’s a mixture of both, you are able to hear the opinions of people and are able to do research about it and come up with your own opinion. It’s so much easier to write on a topic that you are passionate about because there is some motivation behind it, rather than writing on a topic that you are not because you are less likely to care as much.

Overall, because of my love to give my opinion and love to write I am interested in journalism and would love to know more about it.

Hi! My name is Emory Miller, I am 15 years old, and I am a rising sophomore at The Burlington School. I live in Burlington, North Carolina with my mom, dad, and younger sister named Addie who is twelve years old. I love to travel, spend time with family and friends, play soccer, and love going to the beach and lake with friends.

I started to attend The Burlington School in 6th grade and have been involved in various academics, athletics, and arts which have shaped who I am today. Specifically in athletics I participated in middle school cross country, basketball, and soccer even receiving the honor to play high school soccer in 8th grade and even becoming varsity captain for our schools woman’s soccer team as a freshman.

In academics I have participated in AYLA (Alamance Youth Leadership Association) in 7th and 8th grade even being elected as president in 8th grade. I have run for freshman and sophomore class president and won the running both times. While being 9th grade class president I raised over $600 and even ran a school wide community day which was a big success. I have also applied and been accepted into AP capstone program hoping to help expand my writing and research skills for the future.

In arts I have been apart of chorus since the 6th grade even taking part of winter coral reviews with broadway stars such as Aaron Lazar, Jordan Donica, and Brian Stokes Mitchell. I have even received the opportunity to sing in Vienna over Thanksgiving break.

But over the years my main interest has been in sports. I love playing soccer and watching American football. Since I was little I have always known that I wanted to do something in sports but about 3 years ago I started to gain interest in sports media and journalism. At the beginning of 7th grade I decided I wanted to do sports statistics for the NFL. I always found the statistics side of sports interesting even asking my club soccer coach for my game statistics after games.

A year later after Christmas break in 8th grade I was watching the AFC championship game and noticed a woman named Erin Andrews interviewing my favorite players after the game. By watching Erin Andrews interview the athletes I started to gain interest in sports media broadcasting ultimately changing my main goal to become a sports broadcaster specifically a sideline reporter for the NFL. I think sideline reporting is not only interesting but you get to understand the athletes feelings and how they handle certain things which is another aspect I think is not appreciated enough.

Right now I am still finding new things that interest me and maybe my goals in life will change but for now enjoying spending time at the beach and lake with family and friends.

Hi! My name is Avery Staus. I am 16 years old, and I have lived in Roswell, Georgia my entire life. I have attended The Walker School in Marietta since seventh grade, and although it is small, I have built strong friendships and became involved in areas I never thought I would be interested in. For example, I used to believe that I wanted to attend medical school and become a doctor. However, after taking classes outside of my comfort zone, I realized that my dream is to utilize my creativity in my future career and major in marketing, advertising or journalism in college. I have always despised my science and math classes in school even though I tried extremely hard to enjoy them. English and history have always been my favorite subjects and I am determined to continue my studies in these areas.

When I am not studying hard or finishing homework assignments, you will find me dancing, reading, shopping, watching a new show or hanging out with my friends. I have been a competitive dancer since I was 3 years old, and I have loved every second of it. I currently dance at Rhythm Dance Center where I have found my second family and home. I take classes in all different genres of dance such as jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, contemporary, ballroom, musical theatre and many more. Not only will I spend hours at the dance studio, but I will spend hours reading books. The genres I prefer to read are romance, mystery and historical fiction. A few of my favorite books are “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “The Hunger Games.” Another one of my pastimes is watching TV shows and movies, and a few of my favorites include “Gossip Girl,” “Vampire Diaries,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Anyone but You.”

Although I have many hobbies, there is nothing I enjoy more than spending time with my family and friends. My mom, Melanie, and my dad, Justin, are my best friends and we love to watch movies, try new foods and travel the world together. My older brother, Tanner, just finished his freshman year at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana. I hold my two best friends, Audrey and Masoom very close to my heart and we enjoy shopping trips, going to get acai bowls, going out to dinners and traveling together. Our favorite places we have traveled are New York City, New Haven and Florida!

Hopefully you have learned more about me after reading this biography!

Hello, my name is Jadyn Barrow. I’m 16 years old, and I will be a junior at Druid Hills High School. I have lived in Atlanta for five years. However, I was born in Chicago, and raised in Miami. I absolutely love visiting places like the ocean and lake because I enjoy getting outside and exploring nature. Some of my hobbies include, reading, writing, swimming, spending time with friends and family, shopping and more. However, my favorite hobby is writing. I have always had a passion for it. Whether it was writing essays or making up my own stories, writing was always something important to me.

In the beginning of my freshmen year, I decided to join the Saga Yearbook Staff, where I could be a part of creating the school yearbook. Joining the yearbook staff sparked interest because I was able to use writing and photography skills. During school and even outside, I would spend time interviewing students and staff, taking photos, editing my work and designing spreads. It was a lot of hard work, but in the end, it was completely worth it. Going into my sophomore year, I was honored to have the position as editor-in-chief of the Saga Yearbook for Druid Hills, and I was so thrilled. I had a major leadership role and it was under my responsibility that the yearbook was made well and consisted of all events. I enjoyed covering all the stories that my school and community had to offer since it brought out my inner journalist. Overall, the main goal I had as a journalist was that every story got heard, no matter the topic.

In the end, the most valuable thing I gained from joining my school’s yearbook staff was that I wanted to be a journalist in the future and I wanted to base my career around that. I plan on majoring in journalism in college and then continue on with being a journalist.

In school I participate in many clubs and fun extracurricular activities. I am currently the president of my school’s art club, and a social media manager for my school’s black student union. During my sophomore year, I began a literary arts magazine entitled “Silent Voices” where I allowed my peers at schools to share their talents with either art, poetry or writing. Every year, the yearbook team at my school and I collect either anonymous or identified work from students and publish them to the magazine for the school to share and enjoy. I also participate in theatre at my school with my friends. This year I shared the stage with them when we preformed our adaptation of “Legally Blonde” in February.

Photography is my main focus at the moment when it comes to a career or college. During all four years of high school, I have taken regular to advanced film photography classes. I was first introduced to the basics of the darkroom my freshman year and have since made it my own by engaging in many multimedia and alternative projects. I am less familiar with digital photography and editing, but am more than open to learning more about it in college. This summer, I have begun a film photography course for middle schoolers through Horizons Atlanta where I teach kids around the Atlanta area who may not have access to film cameras or a darkroom to be introduced to the creative space that means so much to me. It is a major passion of mine to share the opportunity I am fortunate enough to have with others.

Some of my other major passions and interests include music and film. Some of my favorite artists include Stevie Wonder, Frank Ocean and Devonté Hynes. I have never been to a concert, but it is a dream of mine to go to one and take pictures for social media or an article. My passion for film and movies is also extremely prominent in my life. I do not make films, but watching them is one of my favorite pastimes. I enjoy going on Letterboxd and sharing my opinions on films and engaging with my friends. Some of my favorite films include Pixar’s “Ratatouille” and Gaspar Noé’s “Climax.”

Hey everyone! My name is Lucia Rodriguez and I’m from Decatur, Georgia. I’m currently 16 years old and still don’t have my license. I have an older sister named Andrea who goes to UGA and majors in international relations and both my parents work at CNN. We have two cats named Moony (Harry Potter reference) and Lumi (short for lumiere, the candelabra in “Beauty and the Beast”) which we adopted only two years ago. I attend Druid Hills High School and am about to enter my senior year which is crazy to think about. I spend my summer lifeguarding, hanging out with my friends and family, shopping (mostly window) and tanning.

Apart from my life in Atlanta, I have a life in Mexico. Both of my parents grew up in Mexico City and our entire family resides there. As a result of this, I’ve been traveling to Mexico ever since I was 6 months old to visit family. Spanish is my first language but I am fluent in English as well and I am eternally grateful for the opportunities that knowing a second language can provide. I would spend every summer growing up in Mexico, traveling across the country and learning so many valuable life lessons. I’d never had to deal with backlash for being Mexican until high school, but it ended up only making me prouder of being a Mexican-American.

Something that I think adds to who I am as a person is my love for literature. I always grew up reading books, from Geronimo Stilton to the Magic Treehouse but it wasn’t until quarantine that I became a true book worm. I read a total of 74 books in 2021, ranging from fantasy to biographies. I have also always been very into movies & TV which I believe veered me into finding a creative writing driven path in school. When my freshman year literature teacher asked me to join the newspaper, I said yes without hesitation.

I am now about to embark on my third year writing for the school newspaper, The Spotlight and I have been promoted to editor-in-chief. I’ve written features, sports, news, opinions and reviews but I enjoy writing features, news and opinions the most. Last year I had the opportunity to interview Katie Rinderle, the first teacher in Georgia to get fired under the pretense of banned books, and wrote a news piece on that issue. As of now, I plan on applying to college with a major in journalism but am unsure if that is what I really want to do.

Hello! My name is Marin Torres and I was born in Houston, on Aug. 7th, 2009. My parents moved my brother and I to Athens, Ga was I was 2 and I’ve lived ever since. I am currently a rising sophomore at Oconee County High School. I swim and I also play tennis. In the fall and winter, my afternoons are spent at the pool, at swim practice. During the spring and summer, my afternoons are spent on the tennis court.

I love to read and listen to music. One of my favorite authors is Mitch Albom, whose books I always love. However, Jane Austen and George Orwell come in close second. I would like to think that I have pretty good music taste, although I pretty much listen to anything, from Chappell Roan to the Lumineers to Hall and Oates. Along with reading and music, I love watching TV. My go-to’s are “Gilmore Girls,” “Gossip Girl” and “the OC.” Sitcoms, I will admit, are my guilty pleasures, such as “Modern Family,” “Abbott Elementary” and “Kim’s Convenience,” My other hobbies include playing the piano, collecting records and paint by numbers. I have two younger brothers, one is 13 and the other is 12. I also have a dog named Obi (after Star Wars) who is turning 2 in July.