News
For my local government story assignment in my JMC 301 class, I attended a City of Phoenix Street Transportation department meeting where they discussed revamping McDowell Road. In the article, I talk about their various plans to improve the safety and aesthetics of the area. Because this article was due the day of the meeting, it really pushed me to practice efficient reporting. This was one of my first day turns, so it was great to finally get that experience. It was also cool to get it published in AZ Big Media in a timely manner.
When the COVID-19 vaccine made its way to Maui, I talked to Kamehameha Schools Maui teachers about their experiences with getting the doses. With less than 3% of our island's population vaccinated, many people had questions about the vaccination process.
Covering my high school's decision to return to in-person learning was crucial. Many people had questions about how our hybrid schedule was working, especially since the Department of Education was not allowing in-person learning in public schools.
Features
This piece was written as a State Press Magazine digital exclusive, and it is about the ethics of ASU's presence in Hawaiʻi. I really enjoyed researching and writing this piece because I got to connect my hometown to my University. I also got to cover a topic that The State Press hasn't covered before which was really important to me because I feel like there needs to be more awareness about the ongoing colonization of Hawaiʻi.
This piece was written for State Press Magazine's spectrum issue, and it is about period stigma and menstrual education. I really enjoyed writing this piece because I was able to practice balancing my narrative voice with my informative voice. I started the story off with a personal anecdote to describe the feelings surrounding periods, then I got more into the questions about period stigma. I also spoke with an organization that helps combat period poverty, and that meant a lot to me because I was bringing more awareness to a topic that The State Press, and even journalism in general, doesn't really have consistent coverage on.
In State Press Magazine's spectrum issue, I wrote about organizations that help girls and young women learn about the music industry. While I was covering this community, I could just feel the importance of support and connection they foster, and I really wanted to capture that essence in the story.
This piece was written as a State Press Magazine digital exclusive that accompanied the release of our Culture Issue. My hope for this piece was to explore campus culture from the perspectives of the statues that stand upon it. I really liked the reporting process of this article because I spoke to a lot of different people and conducted a lot of research on a topic I knew nothing about.
For the final project of my JMC 301 class, I wrote a long-form article detailing the animal overpopulation issue in the animal welfare community. I really enjoyed writing this article because it gave me a taste of community/solutions journalism. What made this article successful was the amount of people I talked to and followed up with because this allowed me to analyze the issue from all perspectives. I hope to continue reporting on this community in the future, as I feel like it doesn't get much coverage.
In the summer of 2022 I got the amazing opportunity to freelance for Lonely Planet. As a journalist, I’ve made it my mission to represent underrepresented communities and uplift their voices. When I got the chance to report from Hawai’i for a worldwide travel company, I saw the importance of covering tourism while including the Native Hawaiian perspective—something you don’t see much of on travel websites. I feel so honored to have covered the issues surrounding tourism in Hawai’i, provided insight to foreigners who may not have known about our long history, and to be given the platform to uplift Native Hawaiian voices.
In State Press Magazine's consumption issue, I wrote about how ASU campus harvests have undergone changes. This article really forced me to exercise my reporting skills because the story was begging for various sources and information---I think more than a usual story. This article also provided me the opportunity to take my own photos and do some in-person reporting (which I haven't done in a long time because of the pandemic), so it's fun looking back at the adventure it sent me on.
In this update story, I checked in with the Arizona Safer Bars Alliance to gain insight on how their bar safety initiative was going. This story was impactful to me because I haven't had the platform or opportunity to talk about sexual harassment and assault before.
In my very first attempt as a reporter for State Press Magazine, I wrote about the ASU theatre department and how they have been functioning alongside a global pandemic. I didn't intend to get my first story printed in the magazine, but it ended up matching the theme of the month, and I was thrilled to see my story in the first pages.
I took on one of the main stories, Maui Master, in my high school's magazine called Nā Koa, and this was significant to me because I got to tell the story of an influential 'ukulele teacher. I gathered different perspectives from people who had been impacted by Rama Camarillo, and broadening my pool of sources is something I've been working on, so I was glad to be able to reach so many important people in the music world for this article. After this story got published, I received a lot of positive feedback from friends and family of Rama Camarillo who expressed how meaningful this story is to them and the local music industry.