River Knudsen:
Dear Lovely T-Birds,
I’m River Knudsen, a senior here at Timpview, class of 2026. This is my second year in Journalism and I’m so excited to be working as an Editor-in-Chief at The Thunderbolt.
I grew up as a bit of a nature child. Born into a family that was always running rivers, backpacking, and hiking through slot canyons. My favorite thing to do when I was little was run barefoot on red rock, smashing little specks of sandstone between my toes, or rolling them between my fingers until they turned to orange dust.
Every year since before I was born, my entire extended family goes river rafting. We have 14-foot long rafts that we pack with a week’s worth of camping gear. We slide our raft into the river, ready to row for 10 to 20 miles until we find a sandy bank to pull off for the night. Then in the morning, packing up again and gaining mileage. Until we reach our trailers that are parked and waiting for us 90 miles downstream.
River trips have always been one of the most significant aspects of my life. Rivers are my namesake and I always feel the most connected to myself and my surroundings when I’m sitting on the bow of a raft. Watching my feet dip in and out of the water, moving along with the current. As a kid, one of my favorite parts of the river was floating up to the top of a raging white water rapid. You can never quite tell what’s at the bottom until you get right to the crest of the rapid. As you approach, you see the white water splashing up out of the surface of the water. Rolling in big waves over the boulders at the bottom of the river.
My love and passion for rivers has translated into a metaphor for how I live my life. For as long as I can remember my grandpa has had this saying he would always repeat after we finished running a river: “If the river had no rocks, it would lose its song.”
Ever since I was little I took this saying to heart. Whenever I felt like I was struggling in life, had hit a bump in the road, I would turn to it. Rivers are beautiful and raging because of their rocks. If they had none, the rapids would flatten and the river would cease to sing. I think of every hard thing in my life as a rock in my river. Not something to avoid, but something to flood into. Something to shape and mold my life around, so that it kicks up white water and sings a song. I want to take this approach to life and apply it to journalism.
Over this last year journalism has grown into one of my passions. I love that it’s a way to share the joys and pains of the world. A way to make people aware of what’s happening around them, how rocky the river of life is.
Nobody has a perfect life, everybody is always struggling with something, everybody has rocks in their river. This goes especially for teenagers, it sounds cliché, but it’s true. Each part of life feels more emotional and more important right now. Things hit harder when you’re a teenager. You’re not happy, you’re giddy. You’re not mad, you’re furious. You’re not sad, you’re devastated. The rocks seem bigger than they ever have before.
But this means that your river starts to sing a song that is louder and faster, singing with more presence.
My goal for The Thunderbolt is to make it a place for T-birds. A place for us to share and gain experiences in a positive outlet. I want the journalism staff to write about their opinions and passions, an issue they care about, or anything they want to shine some light on. I want our readers to find someone or something they relate to. I want it to be a source to heal some pain, spread some light, and create some joy. Because journalism has a lot of influence in our world and I want The Thunderbolt to have an influence too. An influence on Timpview students.
Whether that’s seeing a football preview and then deciding to get out and socialize at the game, being featured in an article because of your accomplishments and passions, or reading an opinion piece you relate to that makes your feelings feel real and justified.
T-birds deserve to have their song heard. We have so many rocks in our life. The Thunderbolt should be a place where we can learn to flow over the rocks and let them shape our lives for the better, because T-birds don’t avoid hard things. Our rivers are raging with white water; they never stop singing.
T-birds, The Thunderbolt is for you. If the river had no rocks, it would lose its song. Embrace your rocks, they make your song beautiful. Let The Thunderbolt be a source to make it louder.
River Knudsen
Editor-in-Chief
Lucy Tierney:
Hello T-Birds,
Welcome to the Timpview Thunderbolt! My name is Lucy Tierney, I’m a senior this year at Timpview. I’m very excited and honored to be one of the Editors-in-Chief for the 2025-2026 school year.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved staying in the know. Some of my earliest memories are flipping through magazines with my mom before dinner or listening to my dad break down news stories late at night. Storytelling has always fascinated me, there’s something so powerful about taking news or information and shaping it into something meaningful and entertaining. That love for stories and writing has greatly influenced my high school experience and is the exact reason I joined the journalism team last year.
My first year on The Thunderbolt (2024-2025) was amazing. From writing and publishing stories, to eventually editing news/features drafts, I loved it all. Last year The Thunderbolt as a whole grew so much. The team doubled in size, had nearly four times the number of stories published, and put out our very first social media and video content. Watching all those great changes happen reminded me how much influence journalism can have, even just on a high school level.
With all the changes and momentum from last year, I know that this year can be even bigger. This is only our fourth year as a class, but every single year we’ve seen exponential growth, and we’re not slowing down. This year we’re excited for more: more stories that matter, more social media content, and more audience engagement. We’ll be bringing exciting entertainment articles, sports recaps, feature and opinion stories, informative news reports, and new social media and video content. Journalism at Timpview can be something every student can connect with, whether you’re staying informed from our news articles, laughing at the entertainment stories, or just watching a quick video.
With all of that, I am so excited for this year. It’s gonna be amazing, I can’t wait to see everything we do. I’m so grateful for this incredible team of writers and editors who are passionate about making a difference, and for Mr. Chow our amazing teacher.
This is going to be the best year yet, and I can’t wait to see all that our team creates together.
Lucy Tierney
Editor-In-Chief
