Personal Narrative

Years ago, I wrote pages upon pages filled with stories about aliens, teenagers fighting a mysterious force, mysterious lands far away, the list goes on and on. Words have always circled around in my head, waiting for me to put pen to paper. I used to think I was born to be an author, but it wasn’t until I stepped into the newsroom my sophomore year of high school that those ideals took shape in a completely different way.

I was persuaded to join The Wolf Howl Newspaper publication staff at Chandler High School by the former Editor-in-Chief, and I was terrified to join a class where I knew no one and had no idea what I was doing. However, I loved writing and knew that I wanted to give it a shot. Day after day, I pushed myself to write stories of all sorts: opinion, news, features, and sports. I found an immense passion for sports writing, sports photography, and content creation, which later led me to become the Sports Editor in my junior year. 

When I became an editor, I was immediately confronted with a new kind of pressure. With the seniors gone, only three of us were left to produce an entire issue and mentor a class full of new, inexperienced reporters. The responsibility felt overwhelming as we were still learning ourselves, yet we were expected to lead and teach others. There were countless late nights spent developing story plans, designing layouts, and preparing presentations. At times, I struggled to find my footing as a leader. I often doubted whether I was someone my peers could rely on for support and guidance. Looking back, I regret not investing more time in helping the new reporters develop their skills. My junior year taught me invaluable lessons about leadership and the importance of lifting others up. Determined not to repeat my mistakes, I made it my mission to be present: circulating the classroom, asking questions, and encouraging reporters to share their story ideas. By doing so, I hoped to help them build confidence and take pride in their work.

This year, my senior year, I was honored to be named Editor-in-Chief of our newspaper. Before the year even began, I made a promise to myself that I would help our editors stay focused and inspire our reporters to fall in love with journalism the same way I did, spending my summer break in the library with my computer designing a new newspaper layout and creating team-building activities to prepare for the year ahead. As the year unfolded, the newspaper ran more smoothly than ever before, even as I faced one of the most difficult challenges of my senior year, tearing the labrum in my hip during the first week of swim season. Being forced to step away from a sport I had fallen in love with left me feeling completely lost, and I struggled to convince myself that I could successfully lead a group of inexperienced reporters while navigating such a significant mental and emotional setback. Despite this, my leadership skills grew far beyond what I ever imagined, and I learned to run the class with greater confidence and ease. While some days were harder than others, I wouldn’t want to have it any other way, as I came to realize that my staff was there to uplift me just as much as I was there to support them. Through this experience, I learned that leadership isn’t about giving orders or simply getting things done; it’s about uplifting one another along the way and growing together while learning new skills.

Beyond my responsibilities in the newsroom, I also managed social media accounts for the swim team during my senior year, and for both the newspaper and soccer teams in my junior year. Balancing these roles was challenging, but it became a creative outlet for me as I designed game-day and meet-day graphics, produced promotional posts for stories, and made highlight reels for other teams. Through this work, I discovered a passion for digital storytelling and sports media, which helped me realize this is a field I want to pursue.

Looking ahead, I am thrilled to be studying Sports Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. I can’t wait to apply what I have learned during my time on the newspaper staff in the real world.