Student of the Week: Audrey Rhoadarmer

For Audrey Rhoadarmer, being editor of the Niwot High yearbook was more like holding a part-time job, albeit one with no pay and with a high rate of turnover every spring. But even with stressful deadlines, staff management issues, and workflow hiccups, the aspiring journalist is grateful for on-the-job training she picked up in her four years on staff, and considers it one of the most useful endeavors of her high school career.

"It's a really good opportunity to meet people you wouldn't normally meet," the recent graduate said. "For me, going into freshman year, I wasn't very outgoing, but you're kind of forced to be outgoing. You're going to sports events, and you're standing in front of all these people taking photos, and even though they're not looking at you, it's kind of intimidating, and then you have to go do interviews. It's a really good way to grow out of your shell, to make friends, and you always know what's going on so you can always go to activities."

That being in the know is one of the things that kept Rhoadarmer coming back to the yearbook staff every year, and one of her motivations for choosing journalism as a major when she heads off to Seattle Pacific in the fall.

"I really like knowing everything that's happening," she said. "I get to talk to people that I would never have otherwise, and I weirdly know a lot about their lives because I've interviewed them. Then I see them in the hall and I think, 'Oh she does horseback riding,' or, 'He's on the robotics team'. It's just cool to see behind the scenes."

SPU was an underdog on Rhoadarmer's east coast-heavy college application list, but the dynamic feel of the Pacific Northwest proved tempting to her, and the school's mentorship program finally made her a believer. Eventually, she hopes to work in non-profit communications, but first she intends to join the college newspaper staff, and is looking forward to what is likely to be an eventful fall of her freshman year.

"It's just a really interesting area," she said. "Because it's in Seattle, which is basically a hub for a ton of Fortune 500 companies, a lot of young people live there, and it's always growing. Basically, the opportunities that I will have were the main pull."

The Seattle area was hit by an early outbreak of the coronavirus, but Rhoadarmer expects to attend classes both in-person and online this fall, though the start date has been moved up a few weeks in hopes of minimizing travel after Thanksgiving.

Ironically, Rhoadarmer almost missed her chance to document the biggest event of her high school career due to an accident of timing. Back in March, she and the yearbook staff were putting the finishing touches on the 2019-2020 edition when the coronavirus pandemic upended everything and set an unexpected and stressful course for the book's spring supplement.

"We had to put the whole supplement together, and, not being at school, that was pretty difficult," Rhoadarmer said. She and her staff reached out to every student they knew to fill the final pages, but the response was tepid at best. Eventually, she had enough material to fill the section, and is proud of the way they were able to memorialize Niwot High's experience in 2020.

Rhoadarmer had difficulty pinning down what she would miss most about being on the Niwot High yearbook staff, but finally settled on the unexpected friendships and lasting bonds that have even transcended the miles.

"Obviously it's a very fluid class, so we have a lot of time when we're bonding with each other. If you work on a story with someone, you get to know them, and when we finish deadlines, we have parties and eat food. And it's really cool being an upperclassman getting to know the underclassmen- there are a couple of sophomores this year I became really close with, and it's not like I would ever have class with them. That's been my favorite part."