The current seniors in Tiger Cub, the HHS school newspaper, have many different roles in Tiger Cub. Emma Synek and Carly Davis were the current Co-Editors-In-Chief, and Carly also helped record and edit Tiger Cub’s podcast Tiger Talk. Olivia Erst was Tiger Cub’s Social Media Editor, and she ran Tiger Cub’s Instagram account. Josh Torres was a staff writer for Tiger Cub. Photo by Hallie Schultz.
Four members of Tiger Cub are graduating this year as a part of the Class of 2023. As their time at HHS comes to an end, including their time in Tiger Cub, they reflect on the past four years. Emma Synek, the current Co-Editor-In-Chief of Tiger Cub, is going to miss many aspects of her time at HHS.
“I’m gonna miss it like because, just walking in the hallways and seeing all my friends was a good time, and just the classes and the teachers I’ve met. And I know some of them have left, but I’ll still remember them for a long time,” Synek said.
One thing Synek has gained from her time in Tiger Cub is improving her writing skills.
“Well, my writing skills have gotten so much better. Just even like for my senior paper, looking at that, you can tell that I improved my writing a lot,” Synek said.
Josh Torres, another senior in Tiger Cub, would agree that he has gained something from being in Tiger Cub, specifically having a better outlook on his life.
“I think it’s made me a better person. You know, there’s a lot of stories that I wrote that are kind of deep. [For example], I mean, I wrote a story about English language learners. I wrote a story about why teachers are leaving the school,” Torres said. “So to hear those people’s stories, specifically the English language learners, I mean, one wrong step from my parents and I would have turned out, you know, also coming [to America] as a teenager. And so I think it made me a better person hearing the stories and just gratitude for what I have, and appreciation for the world that I live in.”
Another aspect of his time at HHS that Torres would say has made him a better person is the role his teachers have played in making him the student that he is today.
“I’m super glad for the opportunities HHS has given me; it’s been an incredible four years. My freshman year got cut off with COVID, but I didn’t really do much my freshman year. I wasn’t really a good student until my junior year. So I think the teachers here at HHS really helped me with my turnaround, and they saw value in me. I don’t think that you’ll find that in many schools, where teachers will [do that]. But I think a lot of the teachers gave me second chances, third chances, fourth chances, and I’m eternally grateful for that,” Torres said.
Similarly to Torres, Cary Davis, the other Co-Editor-In-Chief of Tiger Cub this year and Tiger Cub’s Podcast Editor, says that high school has included ups and downs.
“I definitely had an interesting four years I would say, I mean, it’s definitely not High School Musical,” Davis said. “You have a lot of different experiences: some are bad, some are good, but I wouldn’t change it I think.”
Throughout her journey at HHS, Davis has gained not only confidence, but also skills that she hopes to use in her future, from her time in Tiger Cub.
“It definitely gave me more courage. I think [Tiger Cub gave me] confidence when it comes to like writing skills and public speaking with the podcast. And yeah, just having confidence overall,” Davis said.
Liv Ernst, the Social Media Editor for the Tiger Cub, has also grown in a specific area from her role in Tiger Cub, specifically becoming more outgoing as a result of making videos for the Tiger Cub Instagram.
“I think it’s made me more outgoing because [of] having to interview students. You have to get out of your comfort zone and talk to new people. So I really think it’s helped me just kind of step out of my shell a little bit,” Ernst said.
Looking back on her time in Tiger Cub, Liv is glad to have made a mark during her time in Tiger Cub by pitching the idea of posting on the old Tiger Cub Instagram again and making fun content to post in the account.
“I think that I have done a lot of work for Tiger Cub in making it more known to the school. A lot of the students have really like started watching our Instagram reels. They now know what Tiger Cub is, and people ask us, or they ask me, if I like it and they get interested in it,” Ernst said.
Taking her time at HHS into consideration, one of the things Ernst is going to miss the most after graduation is being able to see her friends at school every day.
“I was really excited to graduate. But now, looking back, I definitely am going to miss the atmosphere here and being able to see my friends every day,” Ernst said.
Some of Davis’ favorite memories from Tiger Cub, and the thing about Tiger Cub that Davis is going to miss the most is all the things Tiger Cub gets to do outside of just writing stories.
“I know I’m gonna miss Tiger Cub mainly just because of all the activities we did outside of writing stories and stuff, like we did ad-selling and that was always fun with Josh and Emma. We always went around town, and then when we’d have classroom parties, or going to state, those are the things I’m going to miss the most,” Davis said.
Torres encourages people to join Tiger Cub if they want to learn a few specific skills one can gain from being in Tiger Cub. Reflecting on his sophomore year, Torres wouldn’t have believed someone if they told him that he would have the two leadership positions in HHS that he currently holds today.
“Join Tiger Cub if you’re someone who wants to learn the skills of being personable and deadlines. I mean, there’s a multitude of things that you learn when you join Tiger Cub. It’s been an incredible four years in general. I would never think if you told me going into my sophomore year that I’d be Class President, Editor-In-Chief of yearbook, I’d tell you to get off, like I didn’t think that’d be possible. But it did happen. So I would just, you know, if you need a turnaround or something, do it,” Torres said.
