Writing
foundations
Writing
Before I was editor-in-chief, or opinion/views editor, or even part of publications staff at all, I was sitting in a Journalism 1 class writing simple stories on things like studying tips from high-achievers and students' opinions on tattoos. I'd never fleshed out a story in 2000 words of depth. I didn't know what it meant to have a beat. The designing powers of Adobe Creative Cloud hadn't yet graced my laptop. And I couldn't do much but string quotes together with haphazard transitions and clunky little bunches of information.
​
​Now, journalism is much, much more. It's deciding what the magazine should look like and spending hours on InDesign. It's selecting top stories, planning weekly budgets, managing the Instagram account and writing letters from the editor. It's leading my staff, editing their stories, editing their stories again and probably editing their stories a third time, if they ask.
​
But beneath all of those responsibilities lies an enduring and untouchable love for the simple act of gathering information and distilling it into words, then sentences, then paragraphs. That love is what transformed me from a flawed yet enthusiastic Journalism 1 student to a flawed yet enthusiastic editor-in-chief who gets just a little better at her craft with every story. I design to highlight the writing. I budget stories to organize the writing. I market to get more eyes on the writing. I guide my staff to sharpen their writing.
​
And when I feel myself getting overwhelmed, I come back to the same two-step journalistic process that I learned in Journalism 1: do whatever it takes to understand it, then write it down.
​
All images obtained via EHS Publications' subscription to AP Newsroom or taken by EHS photographers. All graphics and spreads designed by Sami McKenney.
finding the beat
This is the first and largest story I wrote on the gym floor. I had the honor of breaking this story before the district had even announced something was wrong. It reports on a range of effected parties, from athletes to the broadcasting club to coaches to administrators. In this piece, every word had to be chosen carefully to represent exactly what administration knew and didn't know about the water issue under the floor. It was an exercise in in-depth, sensitive reporting, yes, but it was also a lesson in how quickly language can stray from the truth if every word is not selected with precision.
The most recent story I've written on the issue, this piece was put together after the district discovered what's actually happening under the wood slats of the floor. As soon as the cause of the issue was public knowledge, it was my responsibility to get behind the actual problem and see how people were affected. How is repair like this scheduled? How does shutting down the gym for months affect the boys volleyball players forced to relocate their season and the huge performing arts concerts scheduled during the renovation? This story was all about anticipating the fallout.
I started hearing whispers about the gymnasium floor almost as soon as school started in fall 2024. Girls volleyball players were worried their season was going to be moved elsewhere. My advisor said she'd gotten the sense that administration couldn't figure out what was wrong. But the district hadn't sent out a release with information, and the town newspaper hadn't written a word about the issue.
One of the perks to being a student journalist is direct and daily access to most of the sources you need. When my advisor said she wanted me to take the gym floor story, it was a short walk to the athletic director's office to get an initial interview detailing the situation. But even student journalists can't avoid problems like off-the-record information. And the caution it took to walk the line between getting what I needed and maintaining respectful relationships with my sources was the hardest thing about reporting on the gym floor. Our publications at EHS are under a prior review policy, so when an administrator tells me I can't reveal certain information yet, I really can't.
I've now written several stories on the developing issue, the two most sweeping of which are below. Not in spite of but because of its many challenges, covering the gym floor beat this year has taught me so much about navigating the mandates of powerful people while maintaining journalistic integrity.
Buckling gym floor jumbles District 7 schedule, disrupts life and athletics
Gym floor moisture source identified, gym to shut down for construction until summer
featuring ehs
It's a gift when I meet a person willing to let me scribe the most intimate details of a struggle they've experienced. I had the honor of meeting Luke Slater to talk about his story in summer 2024, then spending months making this profile the most powerful I'd ever written before it was published in a profile issue of The Claw. Slater's experience is part of a larger shift toward gender-neutral bathrooms in my district, but I decided to tell the bigger story through his personal one. This story taught me the value of focusing on someone's personal narrative in the context of broader social changes.
Before I wrote this piece, the EHS Color Guard had never been covered as a separate entity from the Marching Band. This was the first story I ever wrote for The Claw, and I was honored when the editor-in-chief at the time made it the cover story. You'll notice some creative language and scene-setting here, as well as the fact that I briefly use first person to identity that I spent the entire day with the guard. I wanted to give readers the sense that they were in the moment with this group, breathing in the hairspray and laughing with the members. This piece taught me the importance getting up close and personal with a story.
Features are my babies. I think people, not events, have always been the most enticing part of journalism for me. There will always be issues to be covered in snappy news pieces, but much more interesting to report on is the human-interest angle -- how people interact with the problems around them and how they think and feel in response to their environment. Those kinds of stories also require exceeding amounts of caution. You're not just handling events, you're handling the narratives of peoples' lives. Reporting anything close to a mistruth is more harmful than ever.
​
The features a journalist chooses to cover will also tell you the most about what that reporter values. When I reflect on the features I've covered, I'm proud to notice a theme of diversity. In my predominantly white school, seeking out the stories of minority students and often-forgotten organizations has been an important goal I've established for myself and my staff. More than anything, it humbles me to have been the person these teenagers trusted with their stories.
An additional feature of heavy subject matter is included in the law+ethics portion of my portfolio.
The first time I took AJC, my advisor assigned us a magazine feature project, and I went to a Black Student Union meeting in search of a topic for my feature. I'd heard students were attempting to revive the organization, but what I found was more than a club. It was a family, loving and raw. It was also the first time I'd sat in a room and been the only person with my skin color, which I realized is something most of the members of BSU experience every day at EHS. I followed the club for a few weeks leading up to their first big event and got to know their dynamic.
This piece is also where my interest in magazine writing formally began, though now I realize traces of magazine style are all over my work. In this story, you'll see some of the rules of more news-y journalistic writing broken. I analyze a little. I use a literary device or two. I was inspired by longform work and profiles from national publications while writing this. If I had tried to write this any other way, it wouldn't have captured the energy of BSU as I witnessed it.
​
Family, Found: Black Student Union Begins Forging Legacy of Togetherness
what's news?
In reflecting on my newswriting portfolio, it seems a little inevitable that I would eventually take up the gym floor beat. Many of my news pieces have to do with construction issues or online platform problems, the second and third stories below included.
​
Of course, I've reported on a variety of topics. But when picking what to include in this portfolio, these types of stories seemed most consequential. Students' online and physical environment most tangibly captures the quality of their learning. In a school, where students (including student journalists) are at the bottom of the power structure, reporting on problems within our learning environment is my way of being a watchdog.
One of the most recent news stories I've written, this piece took me by surprise. I originally set out to write a feature on students' reactions to the threat of ICE raids in schools. But when I sat down in the principal's office to ask him how he might respond if ICE knocked on EHS's door, it led to a conversation about a new set of policies the district had implemented. The protocol was linked to state suggestions about ICE, which were connected to 14th Amendment jurisdiction. This story was about localizing and explicating policy in understandable ways for readers.
District 7 implements state suggestions as Trump lessens ICE restrictions in schools
It's the responsibility of journalists to find the truth. But sometimes, as was the case in reporting this story, several perspectives emerge and there's no way to go back to the event and discover which is more accurate. Administration claimed drilling noises on the roof had stopped when the 2024 AP U.S. History exam began. Many test-takers said otherwise. I was obligated to report both perspectives and responsible for treading extremely carefully when questioning my administrative source. Though she asked not to be directly quoted, I decided her viewpoint was critical to balance this story.
Students critique noisy exam conditions after APUSH score release
There was explosive outrage from parents online following a check-in glitch at homecoming 2024. Students, however, were largely apathetic to the issue, and as a medium for their voices, I chose to write a story telling their version of events. It's easy for a journalist to get caught up quoting the loudest voices. I've been there. But those parents weren't at homecoming, nor did they plan it. Many students had fun standing in line for a while with their friends, and Student Council was already planning solutions for next year. Finding the truth means going to the source and quoting the most reliable voices, not the angriest.
Line wraps EHS at homecoming as ticket platform glitches
so I read this op-ed . . .
The first year I was a part of EHS Publications' publishing staff, I was opinion editor of the Tiger Times Online and views editor of The Claw. Whenever I write in the opinion section, it feels a little like coming home.
​
But opinion pieces are also the hardest for me to write. I can't fall back on quotes -- everything has to come from me. When that goes well, it's the kind of reflection on myself I view with the most pride. But when the op-ed just isn't working, it's definitely upsetting. That said, this kind of writing has taught me the most about who I am as a thinker and writer. And when my thoughts or comments have made big differences in my community, as was the case with the first and second stories below, I get to look back on those moments with the most pride of all.
I wrote this op-ed after my district hired a famous speaker to address bullying. For context, a student had recently died due in part to extreme cyberbullying, and though I did not directly reference his story out of respect for his family, I wanted to pressure the district to do something more than hire someone to give a speech. This piece is pretty scathing and represents a lot of genuine anger about this issue. I was incredibly validated when teachers started sharing this article amongst themselves and talking to me about it. It was the first time I saw my writing represent a broader feeling among my community.
This is the most impactful opinion piece I've written, and I definitely didn't expect it to be. An administrator showed up to one of my academic events, and I wanted to write a quick piece thanking him and discussing how administration could make academic organizations feel more valued. My advisor loved it, and sent it to the administrator, who sent it to the entire administrative staff, posted it on his X account and talked about it for several minutes on the schoolwide announcements later that day. I was so proud to see this piece make a difference in how administrators will view lesser-known organizations.
The smallest elephant in the room
Friday night ethical fights: Fox’s attention to non-athletic groups comes long overdue
People forget about climate change, especially when they'll probably be gone by the time we see its real impacts. I wrote this op-ed as a reminder that my generation is now responsible for handling the climate crisis and completely unprepared to do it. This piece required a lot of research, and I had to focus on presenting the facts understandably. I had to sensitively critique older generations' failures to address climate change and add a little bit of personalization, which you can see in the lede, to keep it grounded and avoid losing reader interest among all the scary facts of the climate crisis.
I'm definitely not the only person who thinks politics has changed in the last few years, but I haven't seen anyone talking about how increased polarization and violence changes how young people experiencing politics for the first time might understand the system. I feel an attitude of desperation taking over the political atmosphere -- a an attitude under which young people might conceive that violence is the only way to get enough attention to make change. I wrote this piece to formalize my thoughts and explore some examples of how violence has changed politics recently.
1st PLACE
IJEA Newspaper and Digital Media Contest 2024
Editorial Writing
Political violence threatens Gen Z impressions of politics
in review
Review writing may be largely regarded as a "soft" form of journalism, but I think it's valuable to analyze works of art or entertainment that make important statements about our world. Both of the works I review in the pieces below are not taken very seriously -- perhaps because their messages are hidden under layers of irony, or maybe because they are dominated by female performers -- but each makes witty, intelligent commentary on social circumstances. I look for works of art like these, the kind whose intelligence might fly under the radar, when choosing what to review.​ The summaries here are shorter simply because these pieces follow pretty traditional review conventions.
​
While its parent album was fun and lighthearted, Charli XCX's "Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat" remix album was among the most poignant commentaries on fame released in a while.
When writing this review, I attempted to step into the voice of fictional documentary host Philomena Cunk. It was an exercise in explaining and analyzing a highly unusual brand of humor.
Charli XCX adds critical layers to ‘Brat’ with stunning remix album
Diane Morgan delivers deranged, delightful, dread-inducing performance in ‘Cunk on Life’
writing for sport
The Weaver brothers are a beloved duo in EHS varsity football. When I decided we were going to do a profile issue in the fall, I knew immediately someone needed to write a profile on these siblings, especially because the football season was in full-swing. I then chose to take a leap and try to write it myself. As a profile, this story explores how the brothers' personal relationship and childhood football experiences contribute to their on-field successes. I was surprised to enjoy writing this story despite knowing little about football. I was also interested in how deep Jack and Yale's history with Tiger Football runs.
As aforementioned, I was taken aback when this piece won two awards. I wasn't particularly insecure about the writing or reporting involved, but I just didn't consider myself a person who could successfully write sports. This story proved to me that nothing is out of bounds. Often, our publications focus on upperclassmen because they make up the varsity teams. I wanted to write a story about freshman athletes and entering the high school atmosphere. Sports is a priority at EHS, to put it lightly, but few people in the school talk about how that pressure impacts young athletes new to high school.
Sports writing is something I've had to work to find my place in. I'm conscious enough of my flaws to know that no team deserves to have me writing a game piece for them. I've written and read them many times for practice, trying to get a handle on the craft. And while I've seen some improvement, I don't have the instinctual sports know-how or mental database of scores and ranks to write the kind of game pieces worth publishing in either of our publications. I think part of being a diligent journalist is being aware of when my stories don't do what they're supposed to.
All that said, I've found that with a lot of hard work, I can manage a decent sports feature. Athletes are just people, after all. It sounds silly, but when doing this kind of work, I have to constantly remind myself that a sports feature is just a feature on people who play sports.​ Below are two sports features I'm genuinely proud of. They're shorter than a lot of the other work in this portfolio, but they took longer to get right. When the rightmost one won two awards, I was shocked. It was an affirmation that I can succeed outside of my comfort zone.
​​​​​​
1st PLACE
SISPA Best Story Contest 2024
Sports Feature Writing
3rd PLACE
IJEA Newspaper and Digital Media Contest 2024
Sports Feature Writing
