Catching up with a Previous Editor-in-Chief

By Michael C.

From 2018-2020, the editor-in-chief at the Navigator was Savannah L. Not only was Savannah the editor-in-chief, but also one of the founders of the Navigator class at NorthStar. Since graduating, Savannah now attends Mount St. Mary’s college in Maryland. It has been four years since Savannah left NorthStar, and now is as good a time as any to catch up.

As mentioned previously, Savannah was one of the major founders of the Navigator class at NorthStar. While the Navigator had been around since 2006, it was just something done voluntarily by students and published on FirstClass (the server of NorthStar before Buzz). There was little to no teacher insight and the articles were unpolished. Savannah recalls, “Having been at NorthStar a few years when I became editor-in-chief I knew that there was so much potential for the Navigator due to the worldwide perspective students had along with their incredibly varying experiences.” NorthStar has students from all over the world with such diverse perspectives. She knew that for the Navigator class to reach its full potential it would need more structure and a little help from administration. During Savannah’s junior year she worked with Mrs. Meyer and administration to help make the course count for academic credit. Savannah created the website, and in her senior year the course was launched.

After graduating from NorthStar, Savannah went to Mount St. Mary’s college in Maryland. She is a double major in Philosophy and a program called Conflict, Peace, and Social Justice where she has a concentration in institutional conflict, specifically bioethics. She also has a minor in German. After she graduates in a few months, she will take a gap year to apply for law school.

Savannah’s passion for writing has continued through college. She says, “Funny enough, the same thing I experienced at NorthStar happened at the Mount. I joined the editorial board of Tolle Lege: Journal of Theology and Philosophy, one of the Mount's academic journals. My junior year I was chosen to be editor-in-chief and I have been editor-in-chief for two years now.” Currently Savannah is working on an expansive honors project paper that will be presented at the Academic Festival in the spring.

Closing out, Savannah gives some advice to a future editor-in-chief. She says, “My advice to a future editor-in-chief would be to be open about your ideas. Embrace new possibilities and listen to the ideas of those around you. If you don't know how to make an idea happen you can find support in the people around you. Being a leader can be scary but being vulnerable about that with the people you trust, especially those with more wisdom than you (Mrs. Meyer!), will only teach you how to grow. (And emails are a lot less scary than you think they are!)”

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Michael C. lives in South Asia with his parents and three siblings. He is in 11th grade and has been at NSA for four years. His hobbies include working out, listening to music, and reading Stephen King books.