Junior Haven Besser didn’t know much about being on the yearbook staff at Loy Norrix until she finally decided to join now in her junior year. During her time at LN, she had not found an extracurricular activity that she was interested in or enjoyed until this year.

Besser wanted some activities to put on her college applications. At first when she joined, she was a little skeptical about what she would enjoy in the class, though she soon found out she really likes different parts of the class 

“This is my first year on the yearbook staff, and there are already many aspects of the class that I enjoy, such as the teacher, and the friendships I’ve made team building with the other students,” said Besser.

There are many clubs and extracurricular activities at Loy Norrix like Knight Life , Key Club, and others. A study by the University of Albany showed that extracurricular activities help with time management skills and help students succeed in more than just academic endeavors. The yearbook staff is in charge of the material and moments that end up in each year’s edition of the school yearbook. This includes taking photos at school events, such as football and soccer games, as well as interviewing students and gathering information. Besser finds this part of yearbook to be her favorite.

“I love to take photos for the yearbook and catch different moments and emotions,” said Besser.

With all these enjoyable things also comes hard work and time commitment, which is setting aside a certain amount of time for certain tasks or activities. Besser spends countless hours editing and taking photos for the yearbook of that calendar year. The Yearbook staff has deadlines that they have to meet for the class.

“The class is fun, but you can easily get stressed around the times that deadlines have to be met because you’re trying to make everything perfect and to put finishing touches on everything,” said Besser

Classes like yearbook and Advanced Journalism/Knight Life can give shy and less outgoing students an outlet to enjoy themselves while in school, as well as a way to learn important lessons. These classes can also offer potential career opportunities for students. 

“Yearbook has taught me how to conduct interviews as well as how to take photos with a camera, which I don’t think I would’ve learned as well if i didn’t take this class,” said the junior. 

Besser doesn’t regret joining the yearbook staff one bit, and is enjoying her time with the class. She encourages other students who may not do an extracurricular activity to join because they may not know what they’re missing!