Dear Harriton Class of 2021,

As our senior year concluded, we received emails from our guidance counselors regarding senior exit meetings. For some of us, the sender was a familiar name, a person who we knew well. For others, there were a few awkward seconds of trying to recall who was behind this email. 

The Harriton Banner, in many ways, is a typical high school guidance counselor: we have always been there for the Harriton community, even if you never interacted with us.

We want to think that upon each new article posted on our website, there is a student behind the screen, thinking, ‘Wow, this story is moving me’... But in reality, you may have never written an article, read a story, or even clicked on our website. 

Although we entered this year hoping to impact every Harriton student, we have discovered that the guidance counselor metaphor applies to most activities at Harriton. These clubs exist for you, but nobody is forcing you to join them. You take the initiative.

This style of extracurricular involvement has forced us to embark on our own personal discoveries throughout our last four years. And when we must push ourselves to discover our ambitions and passions, we end up in communities that we want to be in—and consequently, communities that benefit from our involvement.

This is what has made The Banner so successful this year: students taking agency and bringing their voices and talents to our team. With 300 published articles, multiple new sections, and a graphic design team, The Banner became a student journalism machine. More importantly, we provided a platform for many students and created a community of voices who inspire each other.

For us, and hopefully our staff, The Banner has become a space where students can work on a collective goal and push each other, both intellectually and creatively. For many, though, a student newspaper is not their “space,” which is okay.

After all, our diversity in interests and the spaces in which we find value is what makes our class special. 

So, as we commence on new paths, we should all seek the spaces that motivate us, challenge us to think more deeply, and help us find our “why.” Whether that is a sports team, a debate club, a music group, or even just a friend group, that space is worth discovering. And if that space does not exist, make it. 

With the chaos this last year has thrown at us, we, the class of 2021, have still managed to build these communities and new spaces, uplifting our voices. If we could accomplish all of this in social isolation, imagine what we can do in the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Goldie & Ty