My passion from the start

I am NOT a morning person– and if I didn’t have school, I’d sleep through most of the daylight hours, practically becoming nocturnal. But, every time I stay with my grandparents in New Jersey, my lifestyle shifts. While everyone else rests, I quietly make my way downstairs and open the side door. As I walk down the driveway the morning air blows through my pajamas and I can smell the freshness of the new day. I bend over and pick up the blue bag covered in dew, holding the new edition of the New York Times newspaper. Inside, I make a cup of coffee, get a bagel and sit down at the kitchen table with the paper. 

Unfolding the crinkly, thin pages, I’m immediately engulfed by the black and white text, immersed by the headlines and the stories on the page. These stories are windows into unfamiliar parts of our world, filled with moments of human vulnerability, guided by facts and personal anecdotes. As I grew older, my interest in journalism evolved beyond reading at my grandparents’ house and into a passion for sharing others’ stories and exploring the best ways to share them. 

In fourth grade, I actually started my time in the newsroom in front of a camera back when I was cute. My classmates and I put on a live news broadcast for my entire school to watch every Friday called “Lamplighter Flash”. 

Since my old school only went up to fourth grade, my time as an anchorman came to an end quickly. While at an admissions open house event at St. Mark’s (my current school), I decided to forgo the popular chemistry show all my friends were attending, instead choosing to go to a presentation in the publications suite. 

When the presentation began, a man with a thick southern accent sold me on St. Mark’s almost single-handedly. I realized journalism went far beyond what I was doing at my old school– every minute detail that went into the creation of the student newspaper fascinated me and I began picturing myself as the Editor-in-Chief. I turned to my parents and said, “This is where I want to go to school.” 

I thought I was ready to start writing the moment I stepped on campus. Unfortunately, the man with the accent, who I would later get to know as Ray Westbrook, informed me that I would have to wait until my freshman year to take Journalism-1 before I could join the staff. 

WAIT FIVE YEARS? I was beyond devastated. Throughout middle school I kept my goals in mind, reading the news and writing as much as I could. But, sure enough, five years passed– and on the first day of my freshman year, I sprung out of bed the same way I did at my grandparents house because, that day, I was finally taking a journalism class.

In May all of the seniors on staff were phased out and my classmates and I officially became newspaper writers for the final paper of the year known as the Rookie Paper. However, when I started working, I was shocked. 

No website, no podcast, no social media accounts. How could one of the best high school newspapers have such a poor digital presence? Ray, who had never been very technologically inclined, was set to retire at the end of the year. Initially, I was concerned, as he was the driving force behind the paper’s success. However, when he promised our new advisor, Jenny Creech, would help our program evolve, my ears perked up. Wanting to bring our program into the 21st century, I crafted a digital content plan and pitched it to the new editor. Soon after, he broke tradition, putting me– a rookie– in charge of all multimedia, guiding the publication into the new frontier.

While I continued writing for the print newspaper, I started designing social media content and producing podcasts. Appealing to auditory senses in stories helped bring out their human elements, allowing listeners to hear emotions that would be undetectable in print. With Jenny’s support, the new era of digital journalism began.  

For my first podcast, I wanted to tackle a nuanced topic and provoke discourse among students, so I decided to address religious diversity on campus to ensure all students felt represented and welcomed in our community. 

Unfortunately, it was a complete flop. The sound quality was awful and the topic fell flat because the audio clips were strung together without transitions, not engaging listeners at all. 

At the end of the year, my adviser told me we were going to be creating and launching our own news website next year and appointed me as the Managing Editor. While my final podcast of the year was better than the first, I knew I needed to improve my multimedia skills across the board to truly contribute to creating this high-level publication so I applied to the New York Times summer program. 

On the first day, I looked around the conference room and realized I was easily the youngest person there. My initial feelings of self-doubt were conquered when I remembered I was there to improve my craft and, after the three weeks were over, the effort I put into my work would speak for itself. I took advantage of every opportunity, meeting with producers and journalists from Good Morning America, the CBS Morning Show, Futuro Media and the Associated Press, gaining insight into their day-to-day operations. When I learned our final assignment was to create a single-episode podcast, I didn’t let my previous shortcomings deter me from tackling a complicated topic. I capped off my time experience by reporting on the effectiveness of the Safe Injection Sites that were being tested in the city while I was there. Returning to Dallas as a better journalist with a more complete storytelling arsenal, I was ready to apply my new skills in multimedia, story planning, and photography to our website in its inaugural year. 

Initially, I struggled keeping all of the writers on track during our weekly news cycles, so I helped implement an organizational system to track our production. Ultimately, the shift helped transform the quality of our digital content– bringing in more listeners and viewers than ever before. 

At the same time, I was also facing challenges due to the ADHD medication shortage. Without my medication, even the simplest tasks became overwhelming, and I found myself growing increasingly frustrated. I wanted to express how I was feeling, and the best way I knew how to do that was through journalism. I wrote an opinion piece about the issue, which was published in the newspaper. To my surprise, many of my peers came up to me afterward, thanking me for sharing my thoughts. They expressed how they, too, had been struggling and were relieved to know they weren’t alone. Writing that piece showed me the incredible power of words to unite people, break down barriers, and spark meaningful conversations.

My hard work was rewarded when I was named Digital Editor-in-Chief my senior year. If I hadn’t pitched an idea as a freshman, or made a horrible first podcast, I wouldn’t be able to call myself Editor-in-Chief today. My determination and commitment to improving my craft fuels my long standing passion for journalism, now less of a hobby and more of a reflection of who I am. As I head to Syracuse, I know my love for journalism will only grow stronger. I’m excited to build on what I’ve learned and immerse myself even deeper into the field as I continue to cultivate the idea that we’re not alone in the world. The power of a story is unparalleled, and journalism, as a whole, serves as a beacon to share others’ stories, inspiring hope in those who feel hopeless and uniting communities that feel divided.