As school begins to end for Year 13, it feels only right to take an opportunity to look back on the past year of Unconquered Peaks, sharing our highlights as we turn towards studying for our A-Levels – it’s not that we’re scared… promise…
In true UP style I couldn’t think of a better way to do this than by doing a silly little interview with the one and only Editor-in-Chief: Elspie Macpherson.
What have you learned from being the Unconquered Peaks editor?
What haven’t I learned! From how to use WordPress and sending whole school emails to reading about all the fascinating topics our wonderful authors have written articles on, being Unconquered Peaks editor has truly made every day a learning day! I think personally my favourite learning moment was reading Katherine Thomas’ article on unique insults, there’s definitely quite a few I want to try out (in an entirely friendly manner of course!)
And what do you think has been your UP highlight of the year?
That’s really difficult, I’ve had so many! I think my first highlight was definitely when I got the position. I was so excited to get started and ensure everyone’s voices got heard! My second favourite must have been when I got my first article and published my first edition, it just made everything far more real and I was so thrilled that this was something that I’d worked so hard to create! Another high point was attending the SLT away day. It just felt like such an accumulation of all the hard work we had put in so far and it was very exciting to see the remainder of our ideas take shape!
Dare I ask, the hardest moment as the esteemed Editor-in-Chief?
I have two (one slightly more serious than the other). The first is learning how to use WordPress, it’s a slightly terrifying website and I do distinctly remember the first time I used it I tried to create a new page and not a new post (and yes those are very different things!). Another fond memory I have wrestling with that website is when I didn’t realise what summaries were for and accidentally printed all the articles to the front page!
My slightly more serious hardest moment was trying to live up the legacy the amazing Millie Lovering. She led with such authority and provided a massively positive influence on Unconquered Peaks as whole and I honestly didn’t know how I was going to fill her shoes. I hope I’ve lived up to the wonderful work she did.
Any advice for your successor?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You are not alone, there a massive support network around you. From me to Ms Hall, Ms Brewster and the Sixth Form Team and not excluding your own wonderful SLT, they are all there to support you and it’s not a sign of weakness if you need a bit of support. Know that my inbox is always open for whatever problems you may have (even if it’s just to complain about WordPress) and I wish you all the best of luck! (Also don’t worry, WordPress isn’t actually that difficult, I just like complaining about it!)
Thank you, Elspie, but in all honesty being part of the editorial team for Unconquered Peaks for the past year has been amazing. We’re all, obviously, so sad to be handing over the reins to the Editor-in-Chief for 2025-26, but we know we’ll be leaving the beloved school newspaper in very safe hands and know that it’s going to keep going from strength to strength.
