By Camila De La Cruz
In honour of the end of five years of writing articles (or editing videos), I wanted to look back on the many things that I’ve written. Generally, it takes a long time to write articles, more than I’d like to admit. So, I grew quite attached to these topics. I’ll randomly think about an article that I wrote two years ago and think, “wow, that was kind of interesting,” or, “remember when I stayed up at 1 am writing about My Chemical Romance,” or “wow, that was a really embarrassing article”.
I’ve been told this idea is too self-centred, but I’m beyond caring at this point. I mean, I am leaving this school so I’m in a state of “who cares?”
I won’t be ranking every article, otherwise, this article will be waaaaay too long. Each article that I rank will be placed in a tier of D, C, B, A and S, with D being the worst and S being the best.
2020
Connecting in the Past – D Tier
This was my first article – I can’t remember much about this one but now that I look back, I know it wasn’t good. I think I wrote this article in an hour, which is crazy short for me now, especially since I had to do research for this one. Although to be fair, it was only 300 words.
Loreto vs. 2020 – A Tier
This is my favourite title by a long shot. I think this was my favourite article from my earlier years at the Mary Word and it was something different for me as it was the first time I wrote about something specific about Loreto.
Flash-forward a few months and I find out that my article was placed in the 2020 time capsule to be opened in 2120. It’s kind of a scary thought knowing that people in 100 years time, who are probably expecting a very reflective and deep article, will read it, when in reality I had no idea people in 100 years would even be interested.
I actually wanted to make this a series where I would make a mini year-in-review in the final article of each year. Honestly, I regret not doing that.
2021
Lofi – A Tier
Ok I’m not sure if this one was 2020 or 2021, but I remember this was one of my favourite articles that I’ve written. Why? Because I actually wrote about something that I was really interested in. I knew I was interested in the arts (even though I will admit that I’m not very good at making art myself). This article also allowed me to discover new music in a genre I was relatively new to at the time. I’m not giving this an S because I don’t think I did my research properly, so I’m not very confident in everything I said in this article, but it is close to an S.
Y9 ‘Women Speak Up’ Topic – B Tier
I honestly think the Mary Word needs more articles that talk about the schoolwork students study in school. This one is about the English topic year 9 study about feminism, which suits perfectly with the Supergirl theme of that issue.
Memes – A Tier
I remember I was challenged to write an essay about memes, using memes as evidence to show how crazy society was during the pandemic. I didn’t write the essay (this article was admittedly only 300-ish words), but it included a bunch of memes (I mean of course it did). This was just fun to write, and I enjoyed writing a more image-based article, at the expense of the editors-in-chief having to save every image (sorry guys).
2022
Guide to Loreto day – C Tier
Okay, I’ll admit, I was very close to the deadline with very little written, and so I decided to write a quick and easy 400-word article about the tips and tricks that really every Loreto student who’s been here for at least a year knows. And I know this idea has been done a few times in the history of the Mary Word. Regardless, considering the deadline and the business of Loreto life, this one was fine.
POV It's 2017 (grad issue) and Look Back on 2023 - B Tier
I’ll talk about these two together because these were the only videos I made for the Mary Word. Making a video was definitely a process and I remember many frustrating hours trying to get a small snippet for the video, which ended up only being 5 seconds of the video. I have massive respect for anyone who can make an engaging video, because let me tell you this was not as fun or witty as other videos on the Mary Word. Still, it was an interesting concept, and perhaps “A look back on 2022” as the lost twin sister of “Loreto vs 2020”.
2023
Love Eras of Taylor Swift – S Tier
I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest Taylor fan, so writing an article about Taylor’s career that’s over 1000 words was quite the experience. But I enjoyed learning more about Taylor’s artistry, and I gained a lot of respect for her when writing this article. I was very conscious when writing this article that even though this would be for the Valentine’s Day edition, I didn’t want to focus too much on her relationship like much of the media does, especially when Taylor herself stated she never liked this. Instead, I dipped into the rabbit hole that is her lyricism.
Artists Made Famous by Accident – B Tier
This is another article that I made very last minute (I practically wrote this in a study lesson right after a very traumatic physics exam). To be honest, during this time I was really into ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ and I wanted to find an excuse to talk about them, and this was the perfect chance to do so. I went into this article thinking I would go on forever about the formation of 5SOS, but I ended up being fascinated with d4vd’s artistry. I mean, who goes on to write a hit song just to ensure your Minecraft YouTube video doesn’t get copyrighted?
Paramore – 'This is Why' Album in Review – S Tier
Another controversial opinion that I have: the Loreto Day/Social Justice issues are one of my least favourite themes for the Mary Word. It’s challenging to write about a subject matter that can be controversial and even disturbing at times, so instead I took a completely different approach to this theme, and I think that’s what I am most proud of about this one.
I thought that I could write about the harm negative media stories can cause, and then I remembered that Paramore had an excellent album where they discussed these topics, so I combined my love for music with this idea. It was really the best of both worlds.
Backrooms – Reddit’s Own Horror Story – A Tier
Look, I really did not expect this article to reach over 1000 views. Like are that many people interested in eerie photos and the fictional world of infinite lore behind it?
It looked like I was really able to choose articles that aligned with my interests in 2023, but I remember I was struggling with this when the Halloween issue came up, and then I realised I could’ve written about the backrooms this whole time. It was then that I learned about the lore written about the backrooms, and that’s when I got hooked.
Honest Guide to Subject Selection – C Tier
Okay, I think this was released in 2024, but I’m going to count it here because I wrote it in 2023.
Do I stand by most of the things that I mention in this article? Yes, if I were to go back and talk to my year 10 self, I would say these things to her. Was I a bit too brutal about them? Yes. The advice I gave isn’t particularly for everyone. Like, I remember I wrote that at the end of the day, every subject has its ups and down and at one point you will regret picking that subject, and then after this was published, I heard a bunch of people say “oh I never regret picking this subject”. Honestly, I was flabbergasted, like are you telling me you never regretted picking English Advanced for one second? Good for you… I guess.
2024
My Chemical Romance – A Guide to Join the Marching Band – S Tier
My first collaboration article. Writing a collaborative article has been a goal of mine ever since 2021, and it took me three whole years to actually find buddies who are willing to write about my interests.
I was obsessed with this band since the COVID lockdown, and I’m not joking when I say I wanted to talk about MCR in the Mary Word for a very very long time. There is so much I want to talk about. The intricate stories behind each album, the mountains of lore behind each member, the reunion tour which I went to the night before a really important maths exam (sorry Mrs Brimfield). Writing this 3000+ word article was basically my passion project for a good few months.
None of us expected so many people would be interested in a band that peaked in 2006 (they are always at their peak in my heart though), so when we found out the article reached over 1000 views, we were super excited, but also a bit shocked.
Met Gla – B Tier
I can’t believe I went from writing articles by myself for year to writing two collaboration articles in a row. This one was, admittedly, a last-minute idea that I thought would be an easy one, and it was, but girl I did not expect to stay up until 1am doing this. In my defense, I stayed up because I was just that passionate about critiquing fashion. It’s not an A because this was a lazy idea.
Wow guys. It looked like I was a pro yapper over the years.
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