By LAURA NOLAN

Boyle County High School

Casey Craiger, Boyle County High School senior, has known for a few years what she wants her future career to be. But that does not mean she is waiting on the future to get started.

Craiger produces and records the high school’s weekly Rebel Review that is aired every Saturday morning, and works behind the scenes on the Advocates for America radio show, both of which are aired by WHIR Radio. She also serves as chief editor of the yearbook class and has written for Vaught’s Views, an online sports blog.

Craiger has always enjoyed being artistic. “In middle school, even though I was super creative and loved art classes, I was not very passionate about painting or physical artwork but still wanted to make content.” She found an outlet to do that once she entered high school.

During her freshman year in a video production class, she found a way to be creative by producing her own media content. “I started on technological creation because I wanted my work to be something that I could be proud of. I was glad that I had a physical product to look back on.”

Craiger certainly found her niche in that introductory class. She soon found two mentors within the school who helped her find her place. “Mrs. (Susan) Michael and Mr. (Damian) Laymon inspired me more than any teachers I’ve ever had. They showed me that I had a knack for publishing.”

“They gave me a very individualized educational experience, taught me many skills, and inspired me to start what I do today. They started it for me. They saw that I had a talent and they pushed me to pursue it.”

Although many of Craiger’s current publishings focus on sports, she would like to expand more into other topics in the future. She currently uses the Rebel Review as a way to share the stories of others. “I want to write stories about people. I find human beings to be the most fascinating out of all of the topics to write about.”

Through this work, Craiger is starting to see her goals unfold. She views this year to be the best of her life so far as her projects grow and her skills improve. She knows that it will take a lot of effort to be able to continue with her dreams but does not see it as work. “I think people who pursue their passions are the most interesting people out there. I spend a lot of time on my projects but I really enjoy it, which is the most important thing.”

And as for those future career plans, “I want to go on to bigger things. I know that you have to start locally and start small but I want my work to grow beyond that. I want to write a book eventually.” Craiger follows the motto of “start small but dream big” which motivates her to continue to learn and grow in this creative field.