Reflecting back on my high school career, I was a quiet and shy girl — I never raised my hand willingly to answer a question in class and I never had many friends. In my sophomore year, I made the decision to join newswriting. I only had a little bit of experience in the field going into it, but joining Mililani Times has forever changed my high school experience. 

     At first, I was very nervous going into a class that I had no friends in. I still remember the first day of school and walking into L205 — everyone was welcoming and I felt right at home. It’s this feeling of family and security that kept me coming back. Through the guidance and help from our adviser and previous editors, I was able to be pushed out of my comfort zone. Anytime that I doubted myself, they were there to encourage me to strive for the best and to put myself out there. Today, I am proud to be able to have this role as Editor-in-Chief and it’s a great honor for me to work with all of my staff members every day.

     Looking around at my staff, I can’t believe it’s already the fifth issue of this year’s Mililani Times. Through countless hours of layout, the fun birthday celebrations and the shared time and dedication we put into each story and page, our staff has really become a family. Whenever someone is feeling down, we are able to pick each other up. We may all come from different walks of life — band, gaming, musical theatre and much more, but we’re able to work together to form a time capsule of stories about not only Mililani High School, but the community of Mililani as well. 

     Community to me isn’t only the place from which you come from, it’s a place or a group of people that you share something in common with. For my staff and I, putting this newspaper together gives us that sense of community. We are like a machine; we have many different working gears and parts, but we move together as one. We help each other out when one part is off and we all have one goal in mind — to make every issue the best issue it can possibly be.

     For this issue, we have a variety of stories that each show a different aspect of Mililani: from spectacular students at MHS, to community stories on different elementary schools to features on some important issues. Being that this is our third annual community issue and the last community issue for me and the senior staffers, I hope that you, the reader, enjoys this issue of Mililani Times.