The passing of the past four years has me torn between looking forward and looking back. I think that’s the defining paradox of high school, a stepping stone to the “real world” and a unique time to live in the present. Nowadays, there seems to be a prevailing tendency to lean towards the former (especially with the looming world of college).

At the same time, having an opportunity to create a tangible product, collaborate with people I couldn’t call friends just a few years prior, and enjoy the learning process along the way has become invaluable.

Three years ago, when taking Bark’s prerequisite course, Nonfiction, I had my first opportunities to write about issues that genuinely interest me and engage in the journalism process. In the spring of 2022, contributing to the Cub Bark newspaper opened a window into the now-familiar Bark newspaper cycle that, over two years later, I am finally saying goodbye to.

From the initial trial and error days of journalism learning in Nonfiction to the more refined cycles of journalism doing in Bark, I’ve consistently seen the value of collective caring. Caring avoids misspellings, fuels passionate editorial debate, motivates Bark members to build on their predecessors each year, and collectively caring makes a publication, or any group, better.

Every story idea, cover discussion and misused Oxford comma is Bark’s offer of another way to care, another way to make things marginally better together. Having seen and listened to this process repeat itself the past two years, I’ve yet to find a community that enables students to collectively care more than Bark does.

While high school may be a stepping stone, it’s through Bark’s collective caring that I’ve routinely jumped into the more valuable, more meaningful here and now. With repetition in correcting minor AP Style errors and carefully making broader editorial decisions, partaking in Bark’s collective caring has grounded me in moments that I would have otherwise missed. 

Those present-minded moments, from after-school Paste-ups to weekly planning FaceTimes, and the people who’ve made them not only possible but enjoyable and memorable, are what I’ve valued most in Bark. Although I have only a few of these moments remaining, I’ve had many, and I am grateful to be passing on future ones to next year’s staff.

As I am increasingly reminded that it’s time to look forward, I will forever appreciate Bark’s unique ways of practicing collective caring, bringing people together through learning experiences and debates alike, and grounding me in the present. I’ll miss Bark’s moments, but above all, I am thankful to Bark and Bark’s community for having created them and shared them with me.

With appreciation,

Matthew Marotto