Every semester, students create their own stories in and around Bellarmine’s campus. In masses, global villages, and justice summits, each year holds a new and exciting adventure. And as we approach the final days of the last semester of the school year, it can often be bittersweet to let go of friends and classmates that have accompanied us along the way. Thats where Yearbook, a thriving community in and of itself, comes in. Every year in the middle of May, the Yearbook releases their annual publication of the, well, yearbook. Within its pages, it regales students on the experiences of the year, and the journey that all have been through, doubly bidding seniors farewell into the next chapter of their lives. This year, the theme of the book is “does this ring a bell?”.
But often ignored is the work that is put into each of the yearbooks, and the time it takes to craft. You see, throughout the year, Yearbook staff have been restlessly submitting spreads – back to back pages – and editing them to perfection. Within each page is a story to tell, and a fresh new reminder to the old events of the year. And all the work done from the students working on the book came to fruition on its delivery last week, and a special unboxing today in S-301, complete with cake and special VIP paper bracelets. “[Making the book] was tiring,” Nathan Cayanes ’25 told me, a former clubs and organizations manager-turned Editor-in-Chief. Truly, it was a painstaking process to process each and every page, making sure names and organizations were right, but in the end, it paid off.
Furthermore, the hard work of the senior leadership members, Chandler Aldana-Taylor, Ethan Pascual, Aidan Nyugen, David Le, Domenico DiStefano, Tim Doan, and Ryan Gali, made possible the wonderful pages that students will be able to get their hands on tomorrow. Pouring in countless hours of his own time into Adobe InDesign to construct the covers and folios, Mrs. Crockett recalls that Ryan almost “lives” in the Yearbook office. And when I asked Ryan about his thoughts on the book, he noted that the hard work had paid off, and he was well-pleased with how the book turned out.
So what’s next for Yearbook? For one, since the yearbooks themselves were completed late March, still many of the spring sports were not exclusively covered in the main book. And just for this occasion, after every school year resumes and students return to campus after summer break, a smaller, magazine-shaped Supplement is given to all who purchase the main book. Not only covering Spring sports but more events happening on campus, the Supplement is aimed as a continuation off of the much larger full-book, and thus takes on the same theme. Staffers and leadership are still working, but on the final phases of completing this task.
And so for students tomorrow and on Thursday, make sure to pick up your books in front of Sobrato! Opening times will be during lunch, community time on Thursday, and for half an hour afterschool. Students will only need to show up with their ID cards to prove they bought a yearbook, and for those who may not know whether they bought one, chances are, they did. The cost of a single yearbook ($100), is usually included in tuition, but if students are still not sure, be sure to check with Mrs. Crase, who will be sitting along the benches and roses to the right of the stands.
Jeffrey Mu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bell Online. Check out his articles on this website documenting student life and the Bellarmine experience.