All stressful and happy times eventually come to an end. The seniors in Malden High School’s student-run newspaper, The Blue and Gold, have officially completed their time on this paper. With the endless opportunities they have been given, their future looks bright.
Hadjar Yousfi, one of the Blue and Gold’s Editor-in-Chiefs, has helped ease so many students’ years here. As she explained, her goal is to always “take action and always project positivity.” Yousfi reflected, “I’m sad to go but it’s time for it, and I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far.” Yousfi has been a part of The Blue and Gold since freshman year during COVID’s online learning. She defined journalism as a place of growth, explaining that “it was definitely a long-term learning experience, I was able to grow so much here and talk to so many new people. I feel like with this class, you are forced to be an adult and take action, so it really just helps you develop a character.”
Yousfi recognized that her presence is important and knows the responsibility it takes to take a role like hers. “With Daniel [O’Toole} and Nathan [Dean], we make sure the print edition gets done and make sure the freshman can switch to the leadership class. It’s definitely overwhelming, so I like to help because people sign up and don’t know what they are getting themselves into, however, I think class is wonderful to take and so I try and help around to push people to move forward.” As for her plans moving forward Yousfi commented, “I will no longer be pursuing journalism, I will probably do it as an extracurricular in college, I plan on doing computer science at [Worcester Polytechnic Institute] in the fall, and then I plan to be a full stack developer.”
Having this much responsibility in a class can often get very tough and overwhelming. This is why there are others who help Yousfi get tasks done as editor and chief. This is what O’Toole and Dean do.
In addition to Yousfi, Dean has also been a part of The Blue and Gold since his freshman year when it was online during COVID and has been continuously taking the course since. He also joined photography which he enjoyed, becoming one of his new hobbies. This year, Dean joined the introductory class to become a leader. In class, Dean “writes articles, takes photos, edits photos, and designs some pages in print.” Dean explained his role as the Editor-in-Chief of Print and Design as always looking over the print, and teaching people how to use programs such as Adobe’s Photoshop and InDesign.
Thanks to Dean, he helps get a lot of work done in class and speeds up the publishing processes for everyone. As for high school coming to an end, Dean explained, “It’s a little disappointing, my last day of high school and I have an AP exam; it wasn’t really how I hoped to end it all, so it hasn’t really hit me yet, and so it just hasn’t sunk in that I’m really graduating high school.” Dean also stated, “This is very out of my comfort zone, I’m not a huge fan of writing; I find it very difficult. But this class helped me get better and develop skills, and these skills will help me in college. I learned a lot about procrastination and how to manage time.”
Dean is planning on majoring in mathematics at Rutgers. He does not want to continue pursuing journalism, although he can never be clear about what the future holds for him. Although he said, “Who knows though might do some for some good seats at the sporting events, and so yeah I just plan on learning new things.”
O’Toole expressed the growth he has developed through taking this class: “This class has really helped me grow as a leader and get better at grammar. But as a leader, I was able to connect with people, and communicate with others while still having a welcoming personality where I can be helpful and provide for others.”
O’Toole has a lot of emotion towards his time being done at Malden High School. He said, “I feel like it is a little bit of both sides, it is exciting to go forward into college, of course. I am going to miss Malden High and the teachers, students, and all the friends I have been able to make in these four years. I have been so happy to serve and help all these people. I give credit to Mr. Gallagher for getting me where I am; he kickstarted my career, and all the rest of the staff, I am just so grateful for all of them and everything they have done for me, and I am happy I was able to do this for others as well.”
O’Toole started freshman year over remote learning. He explained, “It was definitely not the most professional way to start journalism, as you tend to interview and talk in person, but I am happy for how long I have made it and the seniors who started with me too,”
“Jennica Ruan and Julie Yu really helped me to get my start and I am so happy that they were able to overcome all the complications with remote learning, but they were still able to help,” he continued, detailing the Editor-in-Chiefs of his freshman year.
As Co-Editor-in-Chief, he does a little of everything, that’s why his role is important, knowing how to copy edit, publish, photoshop, and inDesign work. He also learned how to use iMovie and record podcasts. O’Toole expressed how it has been very nice getting to learn and do all these things.
As for his upcoming plans, O’Toole said “Starting this summer I’m going to be spending a week at the New England High School Journalism Collaborative, I’m going to be working at the workshop for a week at Simons University That’s going to be a really nice opportunity to [learn] from other professional journalists. Moving forward I will be majoring in journalism at Emerson, being able to work in a Co-Op program like The Globe, especially working with Tiana Woodard. I am seriously so excited for everything planned ahead.”
