Author:

by Karin (G12), Julia (G12), and Yu Hyeon (G12) 

Founded in 2021 by five members, Thundercloud Newspaper club, the first newspaper club at Concordia Hanoi, has published six issues, each featuring diverse aspects of the school, from alumni interviews to students' artworks and student-led clubs' Q&As, which have all been featured on the school's official website. 

Now, grown to 11 members, and being curious about the initial creation of the club, we interviewed two of our founding members, Matilda and Cathy, who both graduated in 2022 and are now studying in their respective universities. 

How did the club start? 
Matilda: I think the club started from an idea that Cathy and Jennie had at the end of our junior years. They realized that there were no student publications at the time; thus, they wanted to do something new for our school community. I actually heard about this from Mr. Compton, and I thought it was a great idea, so I later approached Cathy about how I could get involved. After a few conversations, we were confident that we could make this newspaper a reality, so we asked Linh and Nahyun to join the leadership team since they had relevant experiences. And that’s how Thundercloud was born.

How was the process and what were the emotions when you created the first issue? 
Cathy: The process of the 1st issue was definitely challenging. First, we had to come up with the name, format, and contents. The leadership team had many meetings before we made it an official club. We had several meetings with Ms. Tipei for guidance and asked other teachers for insights. Since it was my first time working as a chief editor, I had some trouble with communication and making everyone keep up with deadlines. I received a lot of support from other leaders, and we could successfully publish the first issue. When the first issue was out, it was very rewarding to see people actually read our creation.

How did you feel about leaving the club? 
Matilda: Of course, I was a bit emotional because I was leaving behind the “baby” I built with my friends from day one. However, I knew that the newspaper would be in good hands with the new leadership team, which made me feel much better. I hope current members of the club are having as much fun creating content as we did last year. Life goes on, and new adventures await, but Thundercloud will always be an essential part of my high school journey.

Personally, being one of the leaders this year, publishing each issue has been a joy. From our Editor in Chief leading our club every week to fellow journalists rushing our articles, the happiness our club members felt when we saw the product of our hard work together there, bright on the screen, was immense. This year, we have expanded our work to printing physical copies of the newspaper: a big step in the effort to expand our audience. Matilda, Cathy, Jennie,  Linh, and Nahyun have left a rich legacy, and to see Thundercloud grow substantially in the past years from nothing drives us to advance further. 

*the interview above were edited for clarity and concision as appropriate