2018-2019 Writing
*Click the image to view the PDF larger and read the stories
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Opinion--
Leaving it behind: Senior struggles to say goodbye to people, experiences that shaped her
This is the hardest story I've had to write, and I'm saying that after I spent six months investigating and writing about our school's culture. This story not only had six months of investigating put into it, but four-- actually 12-- years. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to talk about the past four years and the people who have helped shape me through my life. I wanted to be unique, but in reality maybe I was really cliche. Three drafts later and after several failed writing attempts spent starting at a blank screen, I came up with a column-- as cliche as some of it is-- that represented me. And that's what I wanted. I am about the cliches, cheesy quotes get me through my day and motivate me constantly. I am sappy and love being able to thank the people who have helped me and the only reason I'm sad to leave South is because of the people in it and related to it, and the experiences itt has given me. Everyone always says this, but it is harder to let go than you think, especially at the times when administration is being unprofessional or unreasonable, or the high school drama is infuriating. I don't want to forget it though. Writing this column was one of the hardest things I've written, but also one of the most rewarding. It let me open up and realize how I felt and accept and appreciate it.
In-Depth Feature--
Candid about culture: The Tower investigates a change in environment at South
This is the story in my entire Tower career I am definitely most proud of. Writing and reporting on it taught me more than I knew I could learn, and tested my perseverance and drive. It was an extensive, six-month process, but each time we were resisted or felt threatened or that something was off, Bianca and I were only more encouraged to get to the bottom of the truth and report on all of it. I have been wanting to express the heightening suppressed feelings of the students and teachers in our high school for a while. It wasn't until senior spirit day, sitting in sixth hour, when I realized Tower was the perfect forum to express this extensive issue. It was senior spirit day, which is supposed to be one of the most fun and happy days of senior year when the whole class comes together, and I had spent the entire day in extreme stress and felt the tension encroaching on me and heavy on the backs of everyone in the building because of how administration was handling a current issue, and I knew somehting had to be written. It just had to be done well. Every time I thought I was done with the interviews and ready for the daunting writing process, I discovered we needed more interviews. When it finally came time to write, we were faced with the qurestion that had hung over me the whole time: how do we express all this information we have taken so long to compile-- we knew and had discovered so much and wanted to relay all of it to the public-- into a comprehensible story people are going to read and understand? We spent hours and hours in my room writing the first draft of the story, which got shredded. We interviewed lots more people, rewrote the whole thing, and it was much better. We reviesed and edited and pushed the deadline back and didn't make the MIPA deadline and got asked why we weren't done yet countless times, but kept working to make it the best instead of come out with it the fastest. I am so proud of our final product. It is something that truly made a ripple in the community and showed how powerful and important The Tower really is. I am so happy I was able to be part of that incredible article, and will forever be proud of and grateful for it.
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Opinion--
In search of the truth: A reflection on another successful year
This editorial was sentimental to write, as it was the last piece I wrote for The Tower and it was connected to the editorial I wrote to start off the year. I loved being able to end the year talking about The Tower's values and role in the school, reflect on all we accomplished this year, and establish a strong start to next year.
News Coverage--
Redlin v. Grosse Pointe Schools remanded for trial
This story was special because I wrote the original story detailing the case at the end/in the summer of last year, and it was nice to be able to follow it. That also made it easier because I had already spoken to everyone involved before, and was able to just give a brief and summarize the new court documents. This is a good experience not many get, and I am glad I got this opportunity.
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Opinion--
Letter from the editor to the superintendent
This is a unique experience, to be able to have such strong opinions on our article we have several other letters to the editor and our superintendent. I loved being able to look at his letter and have the chance to respond to it. We got a lot of positive feedback as well.
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News Writing--
Vandalism puts rock's fate in danger
This is a story I picked up after my principal told me about his problems communicating to the students about regulations and problems he had had with students breaking them regarding decorating 'The Rock' in the front of our school, but if student behavior did not change, the rock may have to be moved or removed. This is an important story to me because, first of all, it was the first time this paper has had that kind of strong positive interaction where the principal has come to us for his voice to be heard instead of being anxious about what we would print, and it is a good example of how our paper is a forum for people's voices. The principal said to us that he could make an announcement over the PA and try to reach the students, but the real way to reach the students and community was through The Tower. And it was true-- the behavior of vandalizing the rock decreased significantly after the article was published. This reminded me of why I wanted to be such a big part of this paper. Because people read it. Because people look forward to getting the traditional, broadsheet paper every week delivered to their classroom, brought home by their child, or emailed to them, and they talk about and pay attention to what we write. The topic was something that is dear to the hearts of the school and community, and I am proud of this article, photography, and that I was able to write a piece the school and community read and talked about.
*Clich
Opinion Writing--
Facing ADHD:
The stigmas, struggles students face
Since I have a friend who at that time was very recently diagnosed with ADHD and was struggling with the diagnosis and medication, I felt privileged to be able to write this editorial. I think it is far more common than the public, especially my community, realizes how there can be a stigma around being diagnosed with ADHD, and being able to write a powerful editorial that our entire editorial board agreed with about this was special to me. I am proud of this editorial because it started with strong, controversial misconceptions about ADHD, which made readers interested, and then continued throughout the piece with a strong, supported opinion worded in a way that helped people understand this concept they may have overlooked before.
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Opinion Writing--
Students debate the importance,
motive behind mission trips
"How did you just change?" my friend asked me at MIPA summer camp this year after I had just come back from my first-ever mission trip in Costa Rica. She was convinced no one really changes from their experience over a week or two on a mission trip, but that most people just go to take photos and make themselves feel good. I was taken off guard, and while I knew why mission trips were important to me and how much of an impact that last week had had on me, I couldn't adequately express it then. No, I hadn't changed outwardly any huge part of myself, but my life was enriched by the memories and experiences I had there and I changed in ways she (and even myself) may not have even noticed. Also, I think and pray some of the people I met in Costa Rica were changed in some ways too. This column is important to me because it is a direct example of The Tower being an outlet to let one's voice and opinions be heard-- and other people want to read them. This pro/con column series in particular got a lot of feedback from the community. Some people were upset with the con column, some agreed with it and disagreed with mine, and a letter to the editor was actually written in response to these columns. It was a great example, early in the year, of how important journalism is. I was able to express what was important to me in words when I couldn't initially on the spot, and it impacted the community.
Opinion Writing--
Tower strives for the truth,
encourages others to keep us in check
Writing the first editorial of the year, and coming off strong with a clear statement of what journalism's role is and our goals as a paper this year is something I am proud of. In this editorial, not only did I relate it to current events with our government's views and actions on journalism and high school journalism in particular, but also included one of the goals I chose to pursue this year, which was laid out to the staff in my letter and the parents in the staff manual and meeting: that we want to interact with the public. We are a forum of information. Our job and goal is to keep our readers informed and interested. We want to know what people are curious about, so we created a Google Form that is on our website for feedback from the public. We emphasized letters to the editor, because having the readers' input and opinions are what makes our paper even more diverse and comprehensive. ​I love when we have strong editorial topics, and am proud of the way I was able to start the year strong with this one.
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Opinion Writing--
Approaching the application process:
What to know for senior year
The angle of this column is what stands out to me about it. Every year, The Tower convers the college application process, where people are in it, has columns about people's opinions of it and how stressed they are, etc. It is an important topic, one everyone talks about and is thinking about, especially in the fall, and you could tell also because at our weekly story pitches it was a common theme for months. I took on this column because I thought I could do something special with it. I didn't want to complain, but I wanted to check in. To say to students, 'Here's what time it is, here's what you should be doing if you're in different situations', and then talked about what I had done personally to help myself through the stress that surrounds college application season. It was my chance to talk about what I had done/was doing, and try to give other people advice. I think I did well taking a common, often mundane, topic and making it unique.
(In-Depth) Feature Writing--
South's changing culture
This piece is not finshed yet, but I and my associate editor have been working on this In-Depth piece for the entire last quarter, which is why this year I have less writing samples than I would otherwise. See the "News Gathering" and "Law and Ethics" pages to read more about it.