Junior Hazel Barksdale is a newspaper staff writer and this is her first year participating in journalism. Her favorite thing about journalism is learning interesting facts about all sorts of topics, so journalism appeals to her because she can explore various interests and meet people she wouldn’t normally talk to. In her free time she enjoys reading, practicing violin, going on walks with her family, and even plays in the Austin Youth Orchestra, but at school she is involved as the concertmaster of the orchestra.