![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
Don’t worry, I’m not going to sit here and drill you about how “voting is fundamental to our democracy” or “let your voice be heard.” I mean, yes, both of those things are true and should be taken seriously, but I think you’ve heard enough about that.
Instead, I will be going through the process before you step into the booth and cast your ballot. While the general election in November is still months away, we already know the matchup for the Presidency: Incumbent Joe Biden v. Former President Donald Trump.
I will be among those voting for the first time, and while I have clocked numerous hours of research on how to register to vote and whatnot, I’ve never been sure how to truly make a choice. So, I decided to sit down with Rho Kappa member August Pritzlaff, who gave me quite a few options for how to go about this.
First of all, keep yourself informed on who’s running for what positions and what these positions entail. You will be voting for offices besides the president. There will be legislature positions open at both the state and federal levels, local officials, and even in some instances for State Governor. There are multiple organizations, such as The Austin-American Statesman, who are constantly releasing updated information on all of these details.
A common controversy is whether to vote for a candidate based on their policies or morals. This was an overarching theme for both the 2016 and 2020 elections. I already had my opinion on this, and Pritzlaff shared a similar thought. While it is entirely up to you, and it is very subjective, vote for the person who you believe will truly represent you, and is willing to actually help the community, and won’t just use their power to push their own political agenda.
But most importantly, follow your instinct. It doesn’t matter if it’s different from everyone else’s; that’s the point. Voting is supposed to allow your voice to be heard amongst the masses. You’d be doing yourself quite the disservice by voting for someone just because everyone else is. Do the research, figure out what you value in said candidate the most and follow your gut from there.
This is easier said than done, and it’s probably much more complex than this, but just do what you think is right.
