By: Emily Duvall

Opinion Editor

Sadly, my time in El Gato is coming to an end, and I will no longer be able to write the random ghost stories that come into my head about LGHS, stupid articles detailing my experiences in high school, or just my thoughts on the daily. It truly has been a wonderful time. Looking back, I am more “proud” of some articles than I am of others, I must say. On the other hand, there are some that make me wish I could go back and tell myself, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t write that!” Of course, I have no serious regrets, but allow me to reflect on some of these stories that have hit the press in my time as an El Gato staffer.

I’ll begin with my culture article that I wrote during sophomore year about how we should “stan” Charli D’Amelio. I’m not saying I fully regret writing this article, but it is a bit silly to look back on. I seemed to be very passionate about D’Amelio and very adamant about why people HAVE TO support her. It was kind of funny how strongly I felt about this topic considering I did not and STILL do not know her. Honestly, I probably thought she would notice me, which is pretty embarrassing in and of itself.

During my sophomore year, I also wrote about playing guitar during lockdown. In said article, I made quite a bold statement about how I would check back in once I became the next Taylor Swift and could actually switch cords naturally. Well, this is me checking back in. Unfortunately, I am not the new Taylor Swift and have not really made any progress since the publishing of that article. So sorry to disappoint my fans.

I graced El Gato with my very first humor article in September 2020. What a time that was. I chose to write about how people should stop sending Snapchat streaks, which I do agree with still! But, in this article — and a few of my other humor articles from the beginning of my LGHS journalism career — I was quite aggressive. I would write these humor articles and go so off on these things or people that sometimes the humor was lost. Take a chill pill, sophomore Emily; if someone sends you a Snapchat streak, the world will not end. Maybe focus on learning in online school.

Again in 2020, I was pressed about the movie The Kissing Booth 2. Honestly, this was a valid take, but I had no business writing a 4,000 character article about the movie. I obviously was very passionate about this, which I definitely look back on and find humor in. I probably thought I was “really doing something” and Netflix would take my thoughts into deep consideration.

Having the opportunity to write in all of El Gato’s sections throughout the past three years has been a gift to say the least, even if some of the articles I have written aren’t as intellectually-developed as others.