Writing and Reporting
All stories in the newsroom are important and serve their functions in different ways. As for my independent achievements and growth as a writer, I think these pieces demonstrate the capabilities I have synthesizing information and presenting it accurately, as well as developing clear claims on issues I'm passionate about.
It’s time to kiss purity culture goodbye
We need to abstain from abstinence-only sexual education
In its own way, this story was investigative. From the get-go, there was a lot of resistance from members on our newspaper staff about writing this piece, as well as pushback from my parents and some teachers. The research I compiled, though, proved that this was a relevant and necessary piece.
Part of the nuance for me writing it was that I've been raised Christian my entire life, I had received the dogmatic church abstinence sexual-education and yet I felt ardently that this was a complicated and broken system that needed to be scrutinized.
In the process of researching for the article, I actually spoke to numerous staff members of different churches to hear their own takes on purity culture and the potential ramifications of abstinence-exclusive education. Surprisingly, they totally agreed with me.
I spoke to a woman who was a fifth grade teacher at a catholic private K-12 whose curriculum involved sexual education. She was so disillusioned by the way she was required to teach it, that conflicts over it ultimately led to her quitting her job.
I also spoke to a Christian youth preacher and he agreed that abstinence-only education was detrimental, but still believed in advocating for abstinence, as that's what he believes God calls us to do.
Those interviews were especially difficult because speaking with adults about sex is kind of horrifying. Also, knowing my opinion and background were vastly different from the both of them, I had to be careful about respectfully acknowledging their opinions and continually asking more questions. Both of their interviews exceeded an hour, the one with Ben Zeuseldorff (the preacher) was nearly two hours.
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The end result, though, was an article that brings me a fair amount of pride.
One of the key challenges I had writing this piece was in establishing my own ethos. Sure, I come from a boy household, I have two brothers, and most of my friends identify as male, but I still felt some trepidation while writing this article. Was I qualified to speak on the behalf of a sex that I myself am not part of? No. Should the article still be written? Yes, I decided.
So, in my process, I tried to find a balance of my opinion and personal frame of reference from which I was writing- and also really trying to convey that I am only a witness, not a victim, of the unfortunate environment for men's mental health.
Quotes:
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“Boys’ human development has been compromised by the boyhood that we have built and managed for them for generations” Reichart said.
“I think it goes back to this notion that [men are] not allowed to show weakness or vulnerability. And so, when [men are] taught that we [can’t be vulnerable], we think that accessing help somehow shows weakness,” DeWoody said.
This was the first article I wrote that our newspaper, The Bark, received calls about. It was surreal hearing people on the phone and seeing people in the flesh addressing me about this article. It was almost exclusively women, of all ages, thanking Ava and myself for writing this piece.
For that reason, it was such a turning point in how I viewed journalism. I metamorphosized from a dutiful reporter who covered generic, uninspired stories into an actual journalist. Since, I have written exclusively about topics that are important to me, relevant, or really pressing.
An alternative way to look at healthcare: four holistic approaches to medicine
When I was fourteen years old, in the middle of my freshman year of high school, I suffered three successive concussions within seven months. I was subsequently diagnosed with Post Concussion Syndrome — more commonly referred to as PCS.
After finding long-sought relief with cranial sacral, acupuncture and herbal remedies, I grew frustrated with my prior ignorance regarding other options beyond conventional medical treatments. Subsequently, I became interested in learning more about different approaches to wellness, healing and medicine.
So, four months, five interviews and over three thousand words later, I shared the stories and perspectives of four women who have taken alternative approaches to medicine here in Marin County.
While interviewing these women, I learned a lot about the technicalities of medicine, traditional therapies and varying perspectives on what ‘wellness’ even means. But, amidst all of the vocabulary I’ve since defined, practices I’ve sought to understand and perspectives I’ve tried earnestly to represent, I have learned, overwhelmingly, that there is no one singular approach to medicine.
The variety of practices, therapies and methods employed by different people and cultures allow for a blend of options for people struggling with their psychological or physiological health. Whether one approach is superior to others is entirely individual to the person. Granted, it has been inspiring to me, as someone who still struggles with her health, to know that there are an abundance of options out there. If one thing isn’t working, you owe it to yourself to try to find something else; never give up.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza: Championing justice, empowering change and redefining cultural narratives
Writing this article was SO cool because I actually got to interview Alicia Garza! She is an alumnus of my high school, Redwood, so she agreed to speak with our newspaper. After interviewing her, some other student journalists and myself co-wrote a collaborative lifestyles piece on her
She spoke to us for nearly two hours and she broached topics from voting literacy, racially charged violence, subconscious biases and inequities in education.
The actual process of writing the article forced us to subdivide the article in to three parts 'past', 'present', 'future'. We treated the 'past' as her biography, the 'present' as her current initiatives, and the 'future' as her hopes for America and American politics.
A splatter of creativity: the 2nd Annual Arts Festival showcases pieces from graphic design to pottery
This is one of my favorite news pieces I've written sheerly because it centers around something I adore: art. The beauty of this piece was not traditionally in the interviews or quotes, but all in the digital media. Not only did I take a lot of the photography, but I laid it out on Adobe Spark as well. This was a lovely opportunity for me to mess around with digital media and layouts in away that really expressed the story beautifully.
Addressing gun control: a compiled report
This was the first piece of writing I cried over. It was a turning point for me as a journalist in a different way. Professionally, it was not a shift, but an emotional one.
This project was a month-long compiled report that was embarked on by our comprehensive staff. Initially, our plan was to write about pop culture, current events, and critiques about our school's management of our parking lot. That same class period, we launched a news recap, and there had been five shootings that week.
We discussed it with heavy hearts for the remainder of our class, and we all, without speaking, agreed that this was something we needed to write about, and now.
I was part of the team that edited the pieces and I contributed a podcast that interviewed parent perspectives on gun safety in schools.
