momentos
Some sweet moments from the past three years
This was a full-circle moment for me. A huge learning resource when I started exploring journalism writing was frequently reading strong student work. To see that schools such as East Lansing High School are referencing my work to teach an aspect of journalism is really endearing. In addition to sharing someone's story, it warms my heart knowing my work can be used to help other better learn journalism.
Full Circle
I love hearing back from the interviewee after they read my story. It helps me gauge how I did as a writer. And the compliments are usually not the writing itself, but how the writing makes them feel. How it represents their story. It reminds me of a quote from Maya Angelou: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Sentimental
Heartwarming
Over the summer of 2022, our Assistant Principal, Michael Sumerton, got his office redecorated. I noticed he had laminated the pages of the newspaper for which I had written articles about him and tacked them to his wall. Similar to how song writers say after their music is published, it now belongs to the world, after my writing it published, it belongs to the people I interviewed and the community.
Modernized
Oh the things we do for journalism. This was after a (very) late night Zoom, when we finally finished copy editing our pages. Before I went to bed, I decided to post a cute sneak peek of our spread onto my Snapchat story. After all, my friends, my classmates, they are our future readers.
Comical
According to my orchestra director, his mom likes to "keep tabs on him," he tells me jokingly. When our school district's Twitter respoted @nationalJEA's twitter post, announcing my photograph as a finalist, Mr. Krohn's mom saw it and left the cutest comment. I enjoy seeing how my work can bring people together: mother to son, teacher to student, and school district to family.
Rewarding
Adorable
These text messages remind me why I do what I do. It's for those around me. I think that's what fascinates me most about journalism: it's writing put into the form of service. I think of it like how philanthropists donate their money to non-profits with the mission to support the underserved. As a journalist, I use the richness of my words to uplift the underserved voices.
I like to put meaning into everything I do, especially when it comes to naming my cats. In 2021, my sister surprised my family with a cat. Knowing how much The Emery played in my life at that time and still today, she named it after this invaluable publication: Emery. (And she also loved the name itself). Emery is beyond loved by our family. It's amusing to have a piece of this beloved publication in cat form.