For five years, senior Smrithi Balebail has read every story in the Saratoga Falcon’s print edition.

Balebail has been reading the Falcon since middle school, since her brother Shreyes (Class of 2015) started attending Saratoga High and received monthly newspapers in the mail.

“I regularly read professional newspapers and started reading the Falcon out of curiosity,” Balebail said. “I liked hearing about some of the issues or events happening at SHS and hearing the perspectives of people my own age.”

Additionally, Balebail is motivated to read the newspaper to support her friends who are a part of the publication staff.

“As I got older, it became more exciting to read my friends’ stories and bring it up to them; a lot of times, they felt rewarded that someone was reading what they were writing,” Balebail said. “Also, reading the Falcon is a great way to spend time that I’d usually be [watching] Netflix. At least this way, I’m supporting my friends while gaining entertainment.”

With her schedule packed from the start of freshman year with Spanish and Orchestra, she wasn’t able to join the Falcon staff, but instead enjoys reading all the stories. She doesn’t particularly have a favorite section, but said that “it’s always interesting to read the opinion articles to gain some new perspectives, as well as the Lifestyles section to see what students at school are doing.”

Balebail encourages non-readers to start.

“There’s an article for basically everyone to read, and as someone who has been reading it for years, I can attest to the entertainment and quality of the stories,” she said.