A lot of life can be about repetition. You wake up, you work, you love, you breathe. It’s a routine. But a good routine. It’s not every day that you pause to consider your life’s work. You do what needs to be done. And if you’re lucky, you enjoy it.

Last week, Sounder staff spoke to a class of seventh and eighth graders at Orcas Christian School about journalism. The students were truly engaged in what we had to say. And in telling them our story, it reaffirmed why we love running a community newspaper. It reminded us of why we chose this career, why it makes our hearts soar. So we’ll tell you what we told that delightfully eager class of young teens.

Our job is about sharing stories, giving a voice to the voiceless. We are grateful to have such incredible citizens grace the pages of our newspaper.

We are the community’s sounding board, a means of expression for all facets of the public. We aim to inform, amuse and ignite our readers. We strive to facilitate growth in island businesses.

Our greatest joy is to help someone in need through exposure in print. Our greatest struggle is towing the line between reporting difficult news and remaining sensitive to those we call neighbors.

We take our role in the community very seriously. We live and breathe our work and for those who have the journalism bug, it’s a passion that’s hard to shake.

Thank you to teacher David May and the students of OCS for inviting us to speak about our craft. It was a welcome pause in our daily work flow and a chance to reflect on what we are often too busy to notice: the wonder, fascination and trials of reporting in this spectacular place.