At the end of every senior Clarion staff member’s journey, one is presented with an award from Mr.Castle. Mine reads, “Keiser Sells Santa Barbara Surf School to become US ambassador.” At first, I was a little confused by this prediction of my future. I was scared of sharks and really hated public speaking. It took a little while for me to really understand what Mr. Castle saw.
Through my time on The Clarion, I took full advantage of all the creative outlets the newspaper afforded me. Mr. Castle was able to harbor an environment in the classroom that really valued innovative ideas and critical thinking. As a Clarion staff member, I never had a “thing.” I flowed interchangeably through more structural Sports stories, to more opinionated Editorial pieces, and even was given the opportunity to co-create the sassy, albeit beloved, Klarissa. I became the Editor-in-Chief my senior year and was allowed to immerse myself in all different avenues of journalism.
The Clarion gave me freedom of ideas and direction, it allowed me to explore my creativity and pursue my interests. It showed me that life and the choices we make do not need to be static. One day you can be photographing a waterpolo match, and the next you can be writing an editorial on aliens.
One day you can be a surf-school teacher, and the next a US ambassador!
These days, I’m the co-founder of a residential cleaning business. Having overcome my fear of sharks, I’m now living out my surfer dreams in Santa Barbara! I don’t know what I’ll do next, but I know I will have the ability and creativity to adapt to whatever path I choose to follow!

Kayli Keiser-UCSB graduate in Sociology, Co-founder and owner of Spring Cleaning. In my free time I enjoy traveling the world and cooking yummy food. (pictured with her beloved sidekick Blueberry Pancakes