Tall and big. These two words are the first thing that comes to mind when people think of a strong, confident person.
However, I am extremely far from this stereotype. I have been 4’11” since the seventh grade due to my diagnosis of hypothyroidism.
I have always struggled with being confident in myself because of my height and my body. So when my diagnosis came out that I had hypothyroidism, this made my very little self-confidence decrease significantly.
I was even more devastated by this diagnosis because I started to become interested in being a soccer goalkeeper.
Even before this news, I was already being told by my teammates, coaches and even some of my family members that I was way too small to become a goalkeeper. Obviously, this didn’t make me feel any better about myself.
By the end of seventh grade, I started losing all hope that this position would not work in my favor.
However, this all changed during one summer day in 2019 when my mom, brother and I were at my high school stadium. I came across this coach teaching two boys basic goalkeeper skills. His name was John Congrove.
He saw my brother, Parker Eimer, shooting a soccer ball at me. He was impressed with my skills. We talked, and he asked my mom and I if he could train me.
From that point on, Coach John brought my confidence up every single time that I trained with him. He taught me to disregard any person that would tell me that I would never be a good goalkeeper because of my height.
Even though my soccer career was taking off and my confidence was at an all-time high, I felt like there was still a missing piece in my life.
I couldn’t figure out what I was missing and it was driving me crazy. So in an attempt to figure out what it was, I signed up for an assortment of electives during my junior year of high school. That was until I came across Photo I in 2022 with Mr. Tim Naujoks.
In the past two years, Naujoks taught me how to edit in Adobe Photoshop, properly use a camera and get me into the type of photography that I was interested in.
During the same time that I started learning the fundamentals of photography with Naujoks, I had the honor of having Stefanie Crecelius as my Journalism 1 teacher.
In the past year and a half, Crecelius taught me how to tell a creative story through a journalism article, make a podcast and write best captions through photojournalism.
During the fall of 2023, I started putting together my photographic and journalistic skills to create the best articles for my Journalism 2 class.
For my first semester of senior year, I created a lot of Hudson articles and multimedia slideshows that featured topics in our town.
At the time, I also started becoming interested in videography. Prior to this, I really did not have much skill with filming and editing. This is only if you count my cringy middle school short films that I created with Parker (my brother) and my cousin, Cooper McCutcheon.
After I started creating multiple Instagram reels from sports facilities on @rennaeimermedia, I was ready to make a longer video for the Hudson Explorer News website.
That’s when I got in contact with Marc Zustin to make my very first multimedia journalism video, “An Inside look at Sociology’s Fun Friday.”
This video was loved by the Hudson Community and so, I continued to make two more multimedia journalism videos to help the Hudson Explorer News get to their goal of receiving the multimedia badge for their website.
In fact, I recently received the “Best of SNO” award from SNO for my multimedia video, “Frank D. Alexander positively influenced HHS as a substitute teacher.” SNO showcases the best student journalists across the country and I am very honored for my video to be showcased on their national website!
Before I set sail on my next journey to Ohio University, I would like to give everyone who is still in Hudson High School some advice. Please be grateful for everything you are going through in this small moment in your life. These four years will have ups and downs, I am not gonna lie to you. But if you appreciate the little things during this time, like your teachers telling you a very specific story that you have heard multiple times a week or going to the snack line to get your favorite snack everyday, I promise you, it will make your high school experience so much better.
One last thank you to Mr. Naujoks, Mrs. Crecelius, Coach John Congrove, my parents and the Hudson City School District for bringing out my true colors. True colors meaning my creativity, dedication and ultimate drive for success in college. Without each and every one of you, I would have never become the person that I am today.
