A Community of Christ - My NSA Story

By Lydia N.

All year long, students get to read the fabulous articles that the Navigator Staff writes every publication. However, rarely do you get to see the real people behind the black-colored pixel letters on your screen. This has been especially true for me. As the Editor-in-Chief for the Navigator, my main job is to publish the articles and update the website. As a result, you don’t get to see me pop up here very often. However, for this article, I want to explain how much NorthStar means to me.

NorthStar Academy has been far more than just a school to me. NSA has helped me become a better person. The people here have given me a sense of community and belonging that hasn’t always been present in my life. I consider my teachers to be my good friends and mentors. I consider my peers to be fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. The level of maturity, kindness, and godliness that exists within the NSA community is absolutely astounding and unlike anything I’ve seen before. 

I know no one likes a long and boring story, but to explain just how much NSA has impacted me, I have to start from the very beginning. From 1st-6th grade, I went to an in-person school. At this school, it never seemed like anyone was on my side. I eventually decided to leave the school, and with that transition, I lost a lot of the people I thought were my friends. From 7th-8th grade, I went to a homeschooling co-op. Then, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, I got out of touch with my homeschooled friends and some of my friends outside of school. 

Finally, I found NSA. I started my ninth-grade year, and I realized I really liked NSA. I had previously tried to start a school newspaper twice at both my other schools. The first never even considered it. The second made an attempt to create a newspaper class, but it died out within a year. When I saw that there was a school newspaper I could join at NorthStar, I was ecstatic. I joined the Navigator Staff as a writer, I plugged into Teams, I enjoyed the flexibility of the courses, and I even made a couple of friends! However, I was still putting a lot of my time and effort into a different friend group, one which I eventually realized didn’t consist of the kind of people I wanted to hang around. My sense of community wavered again.

At this point in my life, I was a little tired of gaining and then losing friends. Covid was still going on, and it was really wearing on me. I was stuck at home, feeling lost.

This is when everything changed. Right before my tenth-grade year, Mrs. Shafer asked me to be on the NorthStar Narrative (our school’s podcast) to talk about digital marketing, a skill that I had. I felt so honored and happy to share my experience with others. This was something I hadn’t been offered the chance to do at my other schools. She even asked if I would be a Social Content Manager on Student Council. Shortly after that, I was asked by our incredible teacher advisor, Mrs. Meyer, if I would be the Editor-in-Chief for the NorthStar Navigator. All of these incredible opportunities fell into my lap, and my world turned upside down. People had voluntarily scooped me up and labeled me as a member of their own community without me even asking. At my other schools, I worked so hard to be involved in their community. At NSA, people simply wanted me to be there.

During my time on Student Council and on the Navigator Staff this year, I met so many people that didn’t just teach me what it’s like to lead; they taught me what being a Christian means. They taught me how to love and serve others, and even how to love myself. After all the time and effort I poured into friendships that turned out to be the wrong friendships, people at NSA showed me what a good, true, Christian community looks like. 

To me, NSA is not just a school. NSA is a community with Christ at its center. It is a community that gives its members incredible opportunities to change others and even change themselves. I’m truly honored that I get to call NSA my school, and I’m honored to be part of this NSA community that feels more like a family than a school.

Lydia N is the Editor-in-Chief for the NorthStar Navigator, and this is her second year at NSA. She loves graphic design, acting, and singing. This year, she is excited to help NorthStar through the Navigator and help share all the amazing stories and events happening around campus.

🗞️Staff StoriesEIC NSA2021-2022, May 2022 Publication