Friendly, cool and mildly intimidating.
That was my first impression of then-junior Marli Field during The Sidekick welcome meeting at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. In the dimly lit CTE collaboration space at CHS9, she immediately stood out to me among the legion of editors.
Now a senior and The Sidekick entertainment editor, Marli is still just as cool and incredibly helpful. My opportunity to work with her came soon upon joining the program.
My first story was for the entertainment section, and I was scared out of my mind. Interviewing people? Journalistic writing? These were completely foreign concepts to me.
I wanted to be successful in The Sidekick, but my first story being a feature was daunting. The fact it would be going into print was even more terrifying, and I was under immense pressure. Fearing I was doing something wrong, I found myself constantly asking questions.
Marli was constantly giving answers. Whether a conversation in class or a late night Slack message, she always knew what to say or do. From conjuring up ideas to editing the finished story, she offered help at every step.
Seeing her comments and advice whenever she edited my content was also a vital experience for me. While scary and staggering at first, every highlight and strikethrough was an opportunity to learn and improve. Now, after many months of writing for the program, I’ve noticed profound improvement in my writing, and it’s because of Marli that I’ve come this far.
Eventually, we found another conversation topic: two stuffed animals. When Marli brought Bagel the pigeon and Garlic the mole to class, I was immediately obsessed. I found myself asking about them often, stopping by Marli’s desk to give them head pats. Because of these small, soft creatures, we were able to bond together more.
Marli’s involvement in my Sidekick journey helped me grow out of my shell and interact more with people. I have always been reserved and hesitant to speak, but talking with Marli made me more comfortable with holding conversations.
Even though we did not hang out much, our conversations in class, both Sidekick and stuffed animal related, gave me an immense respect for Marli’s consistency, guidance and willingness to help.
To Marli, thank you so much for helping me grow as both a journalist and a person. Whatever your future contains, I believe you will succeed. And I hope Bagel can touch grass someday.
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