By: Krissy Hetherington
Lily Stetson, is a four year journalism student who has recently taken a leadership role as the main editor for the Clubs and Lifestyles section of the Redwood Gigantea.
Visalia born and bred, Stetson spent her kindergarten through 8th grade years at George McCann Catholic School where she said the entire 8th grade class was 17 students.
“I really enjoyed it there, I had a lot of fun and I had known the kids in my class since like kindergarten and we’re still best friends today, so I really owe a lot to that school. It was definitely my second home, I loved it there,” said Stetson about her time at George McCann.
All freshman struggle with the new changes of high school and making that leap from middle school but Stetson was even more nervous making the transition from private school to public.
She said, “it took a lot of getting used to. It was absolutely nothing like I thought it would be. It was great because I got to start brand new and be whoever I wanted to be, but also I didn’t know anyone and no one knew me, so that was a little hard. However, I’m really happy I got to experience two different environments for school and I love both.”
Now reflecting on Redwood’s school culture and atmosphere she said her favorite aspect is how easy it is to meet people, “When I first came I didn’t know anyone and now as a senior I have friendships I know will last a lifetime.”
Her favorite memory is Cowhide wee freshman year where she felt like she really put herself out there to meet new people through all the activities during the week and described it as a “start” for the future high school experiences that would follow.
Being a part of Redwood’s School Newspaper and Journalism class has also been a big part of Stetson’s life the past 4 years.
“My favorite thing about being is journalism is probably the freedom. We’re able to be in any area of journalism we want at any point of time. If there is something we really want to write about, we can. It’s exciting to be given this voice and people will listen. It’s a great platform to talk about anything that is interesting to us. Sophomore year I wrote a few stories about the books I was reading and people actually read my articles. No matter what, someone is always going to be interested in what you’re writing and I think that’s a really nice thing to know.”
Some of her favorite stories that she’s written include:
Outside of journalism, Stetson is involved in many other things at Redwood such as Varsity gold since her freshman year, CSF, FCA, and she recently founded the Red Cross Club this year.
Stetson was a part of Redwood’s first ever Girls Golf Valley Championship team in 2018.
“I’ve been playing since I was about four and I’ve just been working on improving ever since then,” she says.
As a senior she is very excited about her future with a passion and plan to major in psychology with hopes go on to become a clinical psychologist.
She is currently looking into schools in California like Long Beach, UC Santa Barbara, and University of San Diego and also some out of state colleges like Oregon State and Fordham University.
Some things to know about Stetson is that she loves all Italian food which is not a surprise as she tells us she comes from a family of strong Italian descent who has a lot of homemade family recipes.
She also loves to travel and plans to travel with her older sisters to Europe next summer if the pandemic is finally over.
Also, she loves Harry Styles. Like a lot.
“He’s the only artist whose entire discography I actually listen to. When it comes to music I usually just listen to songs and I never see what else the artist puts out. But Harry Styles has no bad songs and I honestly listen to every single one of them on repeat,” she states.
Some of her favorite songs include Only Angel by Harry Styles, Carolina by Young Mister, Flight by Casual Fan, iloveyou by BETWEEN FRIENDS, and It’s Always Sunny With You by {Parentheses}.
Some things she enjoys to do are any kids of crafts, painting, drawing, embroidering, and sewing because “Seeing the end product is the coolest thing ever in my opinion because I know that I did that all by myself,” she shares.
She also says that would prefer a good book over watching TV.
But if it came down to it, one of her favorite movies is “Remember the Titans” because “When I was younger it was because I had the biggest crush on Ryan Gosling, which I still do today, but now I like it because it handles the topic really well and because it gives me a nostalgic feeling every time I watch it,” Stetson says.
Another movie she has been hooked in recently is Disney’s Monster’s University. She says, “I like little kids movies more than movies for my age because they are way better and both have plot lines that are unrealistic, so I would rather watch the cartoons.”
Make sure to check out more of her stories on the Redwood Gigantea and checking out the Clubs and Lifestyles section as she leads a group of very talented and hard working writers!