This story was for the most recent issue of my school paper. This year especially, I have been gravitating towards more political stories, as my major for college is both Journalism and Political Science. This piece in particular is one of my favorites I’ve ever written, not only because it covers a topic I care deeply about, but also because of the amount of research I put into it. I interviewed the most people I had ever interviewed for any one story, and though not all of them made it into the article, all of the interviews contributed to the angle and research. The politics page of our newspaper this year is a brand new permanent page, and my goal in advocating for it was to help increase political awareness on campus. I believe that my favorite aspect of this story was knowing that it could have the possibility of introducing students to local politics, something I think is so important now more than ever.  

Evidently I am a feature writer through and through, but this story was bigger than just a feature piece for me. Sandhana Savinthi is the Salutatorian at my school, and knowing her personally, a fantastic and genius individual. When I found out this year because of her Visa status, she was limited in the colleges she could attend and scholarships she received, I was shocked. While interviewing her, I realized that a big part of the story was just how long it was taking for her parents to be approved as US Citizens, even though they have lived in this country for over a decade. The story itself, I believe, highlights an aspect of immigration that students at our school might not think that much about. I believed it was especially important considering we have a really big population of refugee students at the school who may be experiencing the same issues. Sandhana being a significant figure and relatively well known on campus made a perfect interview for this story, and I hope it opened some eyes on campus. Overall, it is one of my favorite articles I’ve ever produced.   

In my junior year of high school, the Editor-in-Chief of my paper was someone who I respected heavily and looked up to. We had known each other for a while at that point, and our dynamic of journalists was both complementary and completely opposing. While we had similar organizational skills and grit, she and I had completely different niches and editing styles when it came to story writing. This made for some interesting editing moments when going over my stories together. I bring all this up because when I showed her this story, she told me that it was her favorite piece of mine that I had ever written. I’m not sure if she remembers how much that meant to me, but at least, it made me confident enough to know that I wanted to highlight it in this portfolio, as an ode to her, and as one last sign that I trust her judgment completely, even if our opinions were different. 

This piece is probably the most fun I’ve had on a project in a while. I could not stop referring to this story as classified, hence the title, and I’m pretty sure my journalism director got a little sick of me while writing it. The story follows our German teacher, who I had never met before, and neither had my director. The origin of her introduction is a little ironic considering my director and her had a little spat about the newspaper students walking in the halls without passes (long story). My director being the journalist that she is, however, somehow learned of her teaching career beginning as a language teacher for American spies. I fought tooth and nail to have the chance to write this story because of how curious I was. The interview I had with her was one of the most interesting and fun conversations I had in my life, and the teacher herself became pretty close to my director after the fact. I, for what it’s worth, also regard her as one of the most respectable teachers at my school, and I will always read this story to myself and giggle remembering just how fun it was to write. 

This piece never saw the printing press. It was a story I wrote after having the opportunity during a journalism program to interview the Mayor and one of our local House Representatives. It was the first story I ever wrote without the intention of having it published. It’s more of a rough draft than anything, but I remember showing it to my journalism director, and her exclaiming that the piece was well written, but it wasn’t made for high schoolers. That made me think about graduation and how after so long writing for the same audience, I suddenly would have to create for adults who had a more sophisticated taste. I was curious how much my style might change, and how much it already had with this piece. I figured I’d include it here, because it was a complete step out of my comfort zone to write, and I think one of the first steps I will take as a journalist  moving out of high school into the real world. 

When I proposed the idea for this story, it was half a joke. After spending some time thinking over the angle, and especially following the interview I had with my teachers, I suddenly realized that this piece was bigger than just the initial proposal. It was a fun idea that had a huge underlying message. I decided to compare aspects of our modern society to popular dystopian novels. The lead for this story is one of my favorites I’ve ever written, and the message of the article, I believe, subtly gets students to think a little more critically about the world around them. It also was of course a small commentary on literature and it’s mirroring of the real world, even in fictional tales, and with books being such a huge part of my life, it was an absolute joy to write.