My Writing | Cara Kaslatas Mipa P

All images have a PDF hyperlinked :)

This was the first spread I ever worked on and completed entirely on my own. It was the first story I ever wrote, along with the first captions I ever crafted. Let’s just say there was quite a bit of red ink on the page when it was handed back to me for edits. Despite that, this is one of the pieces I reflect on most often. I love revisiting it to see where I began and how far I’ve come as a storyteller. Writing this story taught me an invaluable lesson: everyone has to start somewhere. Now, as a senior, it’s bittersweet to look back at this story and spread, knowing they sparked my passion for journalism and yearbook.

Another perk of being able to write stories about people is the opportunity to showcase the growth of others. This boys' hockey story, in particular, is one I wrote during my sophomore year, just as I was starting to feel comfortable as an editor. At the time, I noticed that some players were being overlooked. Everyone tends to focus on the top athletes, but when a team is made up primarily of newer players, it’s important to highlight them too. That’s what I love most about journalism—it gives me the chance to include everyone and share their perspectives. I hold this story close to my heart because it does exactly that. It brings attention to those who are often overshadowed and celebrates their achievements.

Writing the 2023 homecoming spread was probably the most challenging task I’ve faced. It took a long time to gather all the necessary interviews, and even then, the quotes I received weren’t particularly strong, leaving me to work with what I had. If I had to pick my least favorite part of journalism, it would definitely be the reliance on other people and the hope that they provide good, usable quotes. I’ve had my fair share of interviews with completely unusable quotes, which sometimes forced me to rework an entire spread because of one person. On the bright side, this challenge has taught me to work harder and refine my interviewing skills—often by using our favorite follow-up question: “Why?” It’s also helped me grow as a writer, pushing me to convey ideas about topics I’m less familiar with while still ensuring the message comes across clearly.

This story is one of my favorites and certainly the most sentimental I’ve written. It recounts the Washington, D.C., trip my AP Government class took, which I was fortunate enough to attend. Experiencing everything firsthand made writing this story much easier than others, as I didn’t need to gather much background information. I was also able to incorporate inside jokes from the trip, adding a personal touch that resonated with readers. My goal in writing about the trip was to spark interest in younger students, encouraging them to participate and have as much fun as my friends and I did. Looking back, this story holds a special place in my heart because it helps me remember the little moments that time tends to erase. Revisiting this story feels like stepping back into those cherished memories, and I hope it evokes the same feeling for all my readers.

This is the new admin spread for the 2024-2025 Valhalla yearbook. Writing for this spread was particularly challenging because it focused on the new administration. Over the past school year, we lost all of our previous administrators and gained an entirely new team, so I thought it was only fitting to highlight them. My goal was to introduce these new leaders to the students and parents who read the yearbook, providing insight into who they are and what they plan to accomplish.

I decided to write individual stories about each administrator, highlighting their backgrounds and their visions for the future. This required a lot of rewriting, as even the smallest word choice could come across as editorializing. I had to be extra careful to keep the writing fact-based and grounded in what they shared with me during interviews.

Overall, I’m really proud of how I conveyed each administrator’s unique ideas and goals. I think the spread effectively captures their individuality and helps readers get a clear sense of their new leadership.

This is the opening to the 2024-2025 Valhalla yearbook, and it’s probably one of my most prized pieces of writing. It took me over four months to finalize it to the point where I truly loved it. I started working on it at MIPA camp over the summer, where I took the yearbook class with Cody Harrell. Once I solidified my theme, I began drafting the opening, fully aware that this would be the first thing readers see—the section that sets the tone for the entire book. As someone who strives for perfection when presenting work to others, sharing my opening with my MIPA class was nerve-wracking. I thought my draft was terrible.

But when I read it aloud and was about to move on to the next slide, Cody stopped me. He asked me to go back. Slightly confused, I did—and then he told me that my words gave him chills. When I glanced at the rest of the class, they started clapping and showering me with compliments. That group had no idea how much their reaction boosted my confidence. I went from feeling embarrassed about my draft to realizing that my writing had the power to make people reflect on themselves and connect with what I was trying to convey about the school year. Over those four months, my rough draft evolved into something I’m deeply proud of. Seeing my work resonate with people who didn’t even go to my school showed me the potential impact of my words. I’m beyond proud of the opening I created, and I hope it inspires readers to see the year in the way I’ve portrayed it.

This is probably one of my favorite profiles I have ever written throughout all of yearbook. It’s about my friend Sara who is in charge of the student section. We very rarely ever cover the student section leader as one specific person and being a close friend of hers I noticed how much work she did for the norsemen tide and thought it was worth covering. I really love how well this story was written. One thing I would fix is that I never noticed I didn't write a subhead so I'm pretty disappointed in myself for not catching that but other than that I love the story. It could be a little shorter I tend to write a lot.

This is another profile I wrote for the yearbook and it was one that was probably the hardest. The content was fine but writing the story was a little difficult and I needed to get it done in less then two days because we didn't have enough good interviews and profiles written so I had to get an entire new one and I made that with Isabella. I think it was well written for a rushed job but I wish I took more time on it

I love the closing. I worked so hard on it and I think it turned out amazing. It took me a long time but I knew what I wanted to see and what I wanted to write and I achieved what I wanted and I'm very happy with myself with how it turned out. I honestly wouldn't have changed anything about it.

Boys Hockey: I think these are good captions but there are bad interviews. If I had gotten better interviews I think I could have made the captions a lot better if the responses were better but in the end I have to remember that they are teenage boys and I can only ask the ‘Why?’ so many times.

I designed all the chrono spreads and honestly I love them. I like how we didnt leave a lot of room for white space and how we had a focal photo for the story. I love how some of the finished chrono spreads turned out. One thing I would change would be the Caption and Q and A mod. Sometimes they end up looking weird on the spread so making them look better would be something I would change.

Yearbook: I like the yearbook spread enough. I kind of rushed it because of deadline so if I had more time I would have made it look a lot better

Current Events: Same thing. It was rushed because of deadline. I wished I took more time to make it look better but for what we had I liked it.

Throughout this school year my leadership has definitely improved. I've gotten better at giving out more work and outsourcing to get things done. I wish I had definitely done that more and sooner. I really wanted everything in this book to be perfect and I would freak out some nights if things didn’t get done exactly how I wanted them. In the future however, I’ll be able to take every leadership lesson I have learned, good and bad, and use them in my day to day life. I am so grateful for every single lesson the yearbook has taught me and is definitely going to be the class I miss most.