Spectator is my hard-labored baby.

So many of my friends, even me, live under the well, away from the world. When I met with friends from other countries, I used to find it difficult and felt clueless when joining their conversations about current events. That alerted me. Why didn’t I know? I seemed to be living in a bubble, detached from the world and ongoing global issues. That scared me.

I shouldn’t be disconnected, and neither should my peers. As a rookie Spectator member, I began advocating for the need to incorporate international news into the school’s newspaper to promote not only global awareness but also the English language. In junior year, I also realized that the Spectator was not just an information platform but an important channel for students to voice opinions and promote diversity within my traditional school community, so I strove to promote diverse views through the newspaper platform.

We combat gender inequalities, voicing our opinion that girls don’t have to be protected by being restricted to the “girls only” basketball hoop. We also advocated to postpone students’ attendance time, explaining the pros of solving the problem of students’ sleep deprivation and allowing them extra time to discover their interests outside of school.

A student’s individual voice may seem negligible, but when many come together as one, it becomes influential. Little by little, as the newspaper published more articles submitted by students, I began to see more diverse suggestions pressing to improve our school community. Spectator has thus made me feel more and more connected to my school community.

In a year, the baby has grown much different from when it first started, and I believe the community and I have also grown along with it. Both of us have now matured into booming teenagers, capable and fearless of any challenges ahead.