Shannon Carlson

Features Editor, Business Manager

June 8, 2021

10. Peeking my head into Room 216, Halloran’s classroom, at the August assignment meeting my freshman year. The school seemed so big back then, and Ripples, so intimidating. I had no idea back then how much Ripples would shape my time at Shorewood High School.

9. The metro card debacle during the NYC trip freshman year. As well as the journalism conference in its entirety, like accidentally walking into a session for yearbook editors, but being too afraid to walk out again; the eccentric professor teaching us about photography; #DogsOfNewYork.

8. Mr. Halloran and Laura consistently being the same person. One day it would be matching outfits, the next, strikingly similar profile pictures on Slack. I’m not sure how or why it happened so much, but it did.

7. Catching glimpses of sunsets through the large, west-facing staircase windows in the admin building during layout weeks. However, I will not miss the many times I went up and down three flights of stairs to unlock the door for a fellow editor.

6. Discovering that Mr. Jordan watches many of my favorite shows: Haikyuu, Avatar the Last Airbender. PSA: Only misogynists hate Korra (Mr. Jordan does not hate Korra).

5. Junior year, being chosen as the youngest Editor-in-Chief in 18 years. A truly big honor.

4. Sitting down with Halloran and Ella Kamm to talk about his 18 years on the paper. Ripples has so much history, and it’s amazing to be part of something that has been so important for so many people.

3. Every single editorial meeting. They always produced interesting conversation. Plus, I could always get the best gossip.

2. As Editor-in-Chief, I dragged the entire editorial staff to the high school on hot summer days to plan out our online transition. The energy, ideas and planning that went on in those meetings were so inspiring.

1. Being able to set new precedents: the website, the candidate forum, the newsletter. Ripples has changed in the past few years, and I know it will change even more in the coming years. I’m excited to see it.