Writing
This is a display of my best work throughout my time on staff. Click the image for a hyperlink to the pdf!
This spread is the work I am the most proud of in the 2022-2023 yearbook. While I didn't write as many stories in that book, I found myself gathering more content and learning what it meant to report on relevant issues. Our school faced school safety issues in the middle of February. I took on this extra spread of copy to cover the events two weeks before deadline.
This was the first story I wrote on staff. I remember my Editor-in-Chief at the time telling my team that our dominant about the homecoming football game was going to change. Drastically. This story is what challenged and hooked me on student journalism. I was terrified to interview the seemingly confident football players, and was surprised to find how hurt they were about the game being cancelled. Hearing their emotional connections to football inspired me to seek out other student stories I could be missing. And writing the story itself taught me how to take constructive criticism, and write journalistically.
In addition to the homecoming story, I wrote this story during my first deadline. Before I started writing this, my adviser jokingly told me to be careful because "band parents can be vicious." I remember being terrified of writing this story because of that. When the book was released, a person in this story (Leo Kendall) came up to me and told me how happy they were with this story. I felt so happy to know I told their story the right way.
I loved writing this story as I was starting to get my toes wet in yearbook writing. Starting a story wasn't super intimidating anymore, and I felt confident asking for help editing. I also loved this story as I got to tell the story of comeback after COVID. The pandemic affected me and isolated me in many negative ways. So getting to tell a story of redemption as "normal" community events resumed was heart-warming.
This story was simply fun. Powderpuff is a huge event in our school, and kids can take it very seriously. Friendships are made through practices, and it takes place for a good cause. Getting to cover this story was a blast as the people I interviewed were energetic, and competitive, while the story itself was warming.
This is my favorite story I've ever written. Beginning to finish I was inspired. I knew, and loved the coach that was retiring as my gym teacher. Players I interviewed cried during interviews, the coach himself sent me an 11 page google doc response to my questions. It was clear this team cared about each other, and I was honored to tell their story.
