Senior Allie Beaumont, Editor in Chief of The Central Trend, was not always known for her talent of writing. 

Instead, she grew up with her teachers telling her parents that she was behind in her language skills. 

However, young Allie would not allow for such adversity to pass her by without doing something about it. So, she decided to prove everyone wrong by learning how to compose the most eloquent, beautiful piece of writing that an 11-year-old could produce. 

The perfect opportunity to prove herself appeared in the sixth grade with a small writing assignment given to her by a long-term substitute teacher where she had to write a letter to Santa Claus from the perspective of an elf.

“It was just a very childish assignment,” Allie explained. “It did not need to be taken seriously, but I decided that it was going to be the best thing you’ve ever read—the best letter that an elf could possibly write. I turned it in to the long-term sub and she was like, ‘You know, this is really good. Maybe you’ll be an author one day.’ Obviously, I was very young, and adults just say those things. But, I really took it to heart and have been riding that train ever since. I always threw myself into being good at writing and [I] have been very committed to it ever since.”

From that moment, Allie’s waltz with words began. Her pieces began to progress to essays and short stories, and then, before she knew it, Allie had requested the Writing for Publication class for her freshman year schedule. 

Allie has an older sister who was already in high school, so she had already heard many positive things about this class. After a mere couple of weeks into her freshman year, all that she had heard about the class was deemed true, and Allie had found her new home.

Before The Central Trend, though Allie adored writing, she didn’t know where she could share her voice. However, this class allowed for her to share with the world the more vulnerable aspects of herself while also gracefully hopping from word to word, stringing together beautiful sentences that cannot be replicated.

“Before writing columns, I didn’t really know how to process a lot of my emotions,” Allie said. “I tried journaling, and it just didn’t really work for me because I  didn’t get the whole daily journaling thing. I would sometimes write down little snippets of feelings or emotions in my Notes app, but none of it ever really made sense until I started writing columns. I think as a writer, columns—as much as I have a love-hate relationship for them—force me to confront my emotions. I think that without them, I would not be as open of a person as I am now. My columns mean so much to me because I can look back all the way to freshman year, and [I] can visibly see through my words my growth. I think not many people have such a visual representation of their high school career, and I do; I’m really thankful for that.”

She is just another name on the wall

High school is an extremely niche environment. Everyone has their “thing” and thrives within it. For Allie, her “thing” was TCT.

Within the walls of room 139 resides old lamps and furniture that have built the foundation of a tiny community that reaches out toward large audiences. Within these walls, Allie has formed bonds with people she would have never met if it weren’t for this class. Within these walls, Allie has become the best version of herself, and she doesn’t regret one moment of it.

“TCT has taught me what it’s like to have a home in the school,” Allie said. “Freshman- and sophomore-year-Allie really needed that. Junior- and senior-year-Allie [is] fine, and she’s confident, and she has a lot figured out even though I don’t always feel that way, but when you really break it down, me as an upperclassman definitely has a better understanding of who I am. But freshman and sophomore Allie was just going through a lot, and I just didn’t always have a place in the school in terms of where I actually felt like I could be myself outside of the TCT classroom. I feel like it was a lot of going through the motions and putting on a show and being at school, but in the classroom, it didn’t feel like school. It pretty much felt like a family hanging out in a living room. That’s pretty much what it was. I really clung to that feeling and decided that it would be my home one day.”

Throughout her first three years on staff for TCT, Allie has worked strenuously to continue to prove to her younger self that she is an amazing writer. She has published hundreds of stories, ranging from emotional to informative, all of which contain her strong, articulate voice from the lead to the conclusion. 

When Allie was a freshman, she did not get very far into the school year before she had a goal set for herself. It became clear to her from the very beginning, before she truly even knew what this goal entailed, that she wanted to one day be Editor in Chief.

“I originally entered The Central Trend thinking that it was something very cool that not a lot of kids in my grade were doing,” Allie said. “And I felt like it was something that would show me if this writing thing was actually something I was good at or if it was just kind of a dream I had to let go of. Going in, that was what I was thinking, but very quickly in freshman year, it became clear that my end goal was to be Editor. It took probably a couple weeks into freshman year. I was like, ‘Yep, I know my future here.’”

It was towards the end of her junior year that Allie got the news that she had finally reached her that she had worked strenuously to achieve. She was finally the Editor in Chief of The Central Trend. 

She was not the sole editor, however. Together, she and I became partners as we transitioned into our junior and senior years. We spent countless hours creating posting schedules and getting the room ready for this school year. We fought tirelessly for a couch that now still has a home. We put our name on the wall together and did everything we could to leave the same legacy that past editors left behind in the years prior.

Every year, WFP teacher Ken George sends out an email with the following year’s staff positions, including the editor positions. While George thinks that I found out through the email, it was a much different story.

“The [editor] title was officially given to me [when] I had a phone call set up with Mr. George,” Allie said. “Little did he know that somewhere in between that phone call, [Sofia and I] were going to go to this graduation party together, but we had to run a few errands first. So, I’m on the phone with Mr. George, I get in Sofia’s car, and we’re driving about, and he does not know that Sofia’s with me. [Eventually], we’re sitting in a parking lot, waiting for him to wrap up the phone call and he ends it with, ‘and you and Sofia are the editors.’ I literally had to mute the phone because we were screaming together. We never told him that Sofia was on the phone at the same time, but we were freaking out. This is how [Mr. George is] going to find out that he actually told Sofia and I at the same time.”

Since that moment, the whole trajectory of Allie’s senior year had changed. She finally reached the goal she had been yearning for after three years, and she could not be happier. She spent her first hours editing and publishing stories, and her sixth hours were spent doing the same along with learning more about the staff members.

TCT is made up of a wide variety of talented high schoolers, and Allie took advantage of getting to know all of them, both through the words they spoke and through the words they wrote.

“TCT has taught me to have a lot of compassion for what other people are going through,” Allie said. “Not only do I have to read everyone’s sad, sad columns about all the things that they go through, and not only do I get a little bit of insight into everyone’s life through being Editor and having to publish their stories, but I also have so much empathy because I know what goes on and how busy everyone’s schedule is, and I can see how hard they all work despite having so much going on.”

While Allie has enjoyed her senior year as Editor in Chief, it is unfortunately coming to an end. Time has slipped away once again, and the season of goodbyes has arrived once more. 

Bidding farewell to a class that Allie has devoted four years of her life to is not an easy task. She has known that ever since she had to say goodbye to the seniors when she was a freshman. However, now that the time has actually come, everything is becoming a little too real.

Allie has poured every ounce of love she has into this website. She shared with the world her passion, and now, it is time for her to embark on a new aspect of life. And while this may be the final sentence of one chapter for Allie, it is certainly not the end.

“I think the hardest part [about saying goodbye] is having to realize that now I am just a name on the wall and that whatever happens next for TCT, I can only hope that my impact was positive,” Allie said. “I know I looked to the past editors constantly, and they’ve inspired everything I’ve done this year. I’ve taken little bits from each of them and put them into how I have been this year. I just hope that there are future editors that will do the same for me and that will look at what I’ve done this year and will take a little bit of me and put it into their future with TCT. I think that it’s going to be really hard to let go of the fact that this is no longer my terrain, that this is no longer my home. I have to let it go, but that no matter what, a little part of me will always remain. Whether that’s through the editors or through the bricks that I get to paint or my name on the wall, I was there, I did something, and I reached my goal.”