What should I name my feature story? Is it good? kinda long, please help?

HS is one step closer to college, which seems to add that much more pressure for some people

who are still deciding what they really want to do with their lives. Some people are confused, frustrated, or concerned about where their lives are going as they get closer to that time to go to college.

Kasey Jackson is a Bayside Freshman who has exactly that problem. She wants to be a speech therapist but laughs as she says that it’s definitely not her favorite thing to do in life. Like Jackson, some may have set their main thing they’d really love to be aside because of bigger, more personal reasons than just being confused or unsure. “ I wanted to be a vet,” Says Jackson, “but I can’t stand putting down animals or seeing them hurt, so I changed my mind.…”

Others, like student Maya Deguzman, have had an idea in their heads of what they really want, but don’t think that it’s best for them. Deguzman loves to draw and at times finds it to be a “burning desire” to do art. Other times, Deguzman’s so bored of it, she can’t wait to get done with a project or a



simple picture. But, she explains, “Now that (a picture’s) done, I could say ‘Wow. I did that.’” In the end,



everything still seems to pay off.



But maybe, for some people, the problem isn’t that they’re confused or lost as it is that they know



what they want from their life, they just don’t know how to get there or they’re always doubting



themselves. There are many scientists, doctors, and even authors who doubt themselves every day or are



just not sure that what they’re doing is right for them when they’re usually stuck with a decision or



thought, or whatever it is that holds them back. “I usually write four pages every day.” 15 year old



unpublished author Delia Popa says. “…I discourage myself just from my rough draft.” You just have to



get yourself out of that negative line of thinking. Popa does exactly that as she researches some of her



favorite authors and finds that they went through the exact same thing as she was. And when Popa



imagines the day where she finally gets to publish her book, she says, “I would freak, take a picture, post it on myspace, then go buy copies for everyone I know.”

Of course, Popa would have to undergo a considerable amount of criticism. No matter what people say, if someone enjoys what they’re doing, then that person can’t be brought down by critics. Popa would be ready for that criticism and take it “in consideration…. People are open to opinions and I know my book won’t please everyone.”

Still, HS students stress over where they’ll be within the next few years, whether they can accomplish their goals and if they’ll be happy with where they are. If you asked PAHS’ spanish teacher what she wanted to be when she was in her sophomore year of college, she probably would’ve said, “a psychologist” or “working for the CIA or FBI…” Yet here she is working for PA as a Spanish teacher. For Garfield, everything she loved to do just fell into place. The original plan was to major in psychology and minor in Spanish but switched the two as she says, “ I enjoyed Spanish so much took a lot of it in William and Mary [University] and I finished my requirements very early….” She knew this was best for her “because I keep coming back to it.” She left her teaching job several times only to come back to it. There was even a time where she couldn’t get a teaching job for a while and became depressed. “I love the language,” Garfield says, “and I want to teach others the way my teachers taught me to love Spanish.” If she didn’t have what she loved most in her life- teaching- Garfield says, “ I don’t know what I’d do…[I] probably wouldn’t be happy….” She also said how she would go crazy without being able to teach at all.

People should find what they want to do without pressuring themselves too much just because they’re in HS. However, they shouldn’t leave it on the backburner forever when most HS students have so many options right now.

“Choose what you love to do,” says Garfield, “and it’s not work.”

Not going to be published, just done in class, thanks!!

Any suggestions, things I could change/add... good idea? Or no...?What should I name my feature story? Is it good? kinda long, please help?
It sounds boring to be honest, who wants to read a book about what somebody picked for their major? Books about school tend to explore secrets, people and forbidden objects, yours is just an anecdote about a typical school day.What should I name my feature story? Is it good? kinda long, please help?
Well if this is Journalism, grab an AP style book and start fixing your mistakes. (It's always Said. Past tense.)



Second your headline...



Emotions run wild as students' future nears