Embedded Files
In my time with The Lion’s Roar, I have written over 25 articles. Some have been deeply personal reflections on grief and self-image, some have been (hopefully) incisive commentary on politics and pop culture and some have been (again, hopefully) meaningful reporting on current events affecting our community. Here are the highlights:
The Valentine's Day Saga
This series of articles marks the first time people other than my friends and family took note of my writing. Filled with jokes (some a little crass, most very self-deprecating), these yearly installments let me try and flex my funny bone. Save one intensely personal piece, these remain my most-read articles.
One of my first articles as a section editor was a reflection on my journey with Vitiligo, an incurable hyper-visible autoimmune skin disease. As cathartic as it was to write, I was terrified when it was published. I had never been so vulnerable before. I had nothing to be worried about, though; the reception was great. When it came time for me to write a letter from the editor, I had no trouble being vulnerable again: I wrote about how I grieve family members by finding joy. This time the reception was even better. Surprisingly, friends and friends of friends reached out to share their similar experiences. I was touched by how universal a personal story could be.
Personal Writing
Strike Articles
In Jan. 2024, the Newton Teacher's Association went on strike. The Roar kept the community updated with regular social media posts and by advertising past articles that explained the contract negotiations leading up to the union's illegal work stopagge. Here are two piece I wrote on the topic: one reporting on the events and the other an editorial giving voice to the unheard students.
We are Not the Heart of the Strike
We held our Editorial board meeting while the strike was ongoing. There, students shared their frustration by the lack of student voices and adult inadequacy. Both sides argued that they were "doing it for the kids," but their actions didn't match their words. I tried to capture how fed up students were with this editorial.
NTA strikes for a new contract
While in-school learning stopped, the strike was an incredible hands-on learning opportunity for many of our budding reporters. At rallies and meetings, I took anyone interested to join me in interviewing and writing the piece. Impressed, I hired three of my four co-writers as editors for the next volume.
My dream job is to be a late night talk show host á la Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers. Sometimes I practice for my someday monologue in an opinion article.
Political Satire
Fulmer & Walker: Liars on Fire
In one of my wackier article ideas, I used the infidelity and deceit of internet celebrity Ned Fulmer as a foil for the reaction to Herschel Walker's outrageous Senate campaign.
Asians v. Affirmative Action
Drawing on my own experience as an Asian teenager feeling the pressures of applying to college, I played on typical Asian stereotypes to satirize the SCOTUS ruling repealing AA.
The Fight for the Nomination
As the 2024 presidential race kicked off, I provided my color commentary on each of the primary candidate — but I made sure to include some relevant campaign information too.
Covering the War in Gaza's impact on Newton
A city with a large Israeli Jewish population and a much smaller but still notable Palestinian and Muslim population, Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and ongoing war that followed sent shockwaves through the Newton community. To cover the impact, I've written a series of articles.
1) Israel-Palestine at South (Volume 40, Issue 5, pages 12-13). I authored this article as a managing editor with my editor-in-chief at the time, Bella Ishanyan. While we did interviews together, I transcribed recordings, selected quotes, and wrote the narrative piece, while Bella wrote a historical companion for The Roar's website. Covered at length in my reflection essay, this article completely changed my idea of what student journalism could and my relationship with my community.
2) Protest & Dialogue (Volume 41, Issue 2, page 11). As the conflict continued, Newton's response evolved. After the Library hosted an exhibit of photographs from what the pro-Palestinian side considered "an ongoing nakba", pro-Israeli demonstrators showed up to protest the exhibit. Then came buses with more protesters and counter-protestors. What followed was a screaming match that poured out from the library on to the street. Trapped in the middle of the protesters both inside the the Library and later out, I had the opportunity to take photographs and interview in real time as the situation unfolded. In all honesty, it was a little terrifying. A few weeks later, local groups hosted a dialogue event showcasing the friendship between a Palestinian doctor and Israeli non-profit leader. I attended that event as well to take photos and interview in real time. In the following days, I wrote my piece. Getting it published was a bit of a challenge however....see Law & Ethics for more.
3) Shooting on Washington Street (Volume 41, Issue 4, page 5). The most recent development was when a man was shot during a pro-Israel rally in Newton. This article was straight-up fact reporting. While the war in Gaza was brought up as necessary to explain the lead-up to the altercation and the motives of the men involved, the primary focus was the ruptured sense of safety within the community. All three article can be seen below.
Google Sites
Report abuse