I was excited to join The Paly Voice, my first Palo Alto High School publication, in the midst of the pandemic. I heard about the wonderful journalism program at Paly, and was eager to gain a deeper connection with my community through reporting on local issues while bringing my passions and expertise to the table. Looking back, now that I am an editorials editor at Verde Magazine, I'm so proud of all of the work that I have done, and thankful for the Paly Journalism community that has brought me here.

Over the course of my first semester of journalism (with The Paly Voice), I considerably broadened my journalistic skillset. I learned how use new online tools, such as WordPress and Slack, and how to edit my own work before submitting it to editors. I also learned to collaborate with others on stories in order to move them through the editing process, and how to take better photographs that capture the essence of my story. I also grasped how to write captions, ledes, and use the "inverted pyramid" story structure. I became proficient in writing news, opinion, and feature stories, and learned how to properly seek out sources for stories and interview them in a respectful manner. Furthermore, I began to understand how to calmly ask thought provoking and open ended interview questions, and follow up when needed, a skill I can use well into the future to help guide discussions no matter my occupation. I loved my time at the Voice, and I want to thank my advisor, as well as all of the wonderful editors at the publication who have helped me become the journalist I am today. 

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Joining Verde in my junior year, I was excited to experiment with print stories, diving deeper into topics I was passionate about that affected my local community. This was my first journalistic experience fully in-person since the pandemic began, and I was more than ready to jump in. The shift to a print-focused publication brought new joys. I must admit that it was more than a bit exciting to see my name in a print magazine for the first time, particularly next to the vibrant and engaging story designs I had worked so hard on. The shift also brought new learning opportunities, as I discovered how to use Adobe InDesign and how to properly format stories across a two-page spread in a way that is visually pleasing to the reader. This was more than a bit of a struggle, as the program bewildered me at every turn. However, with the help of the incredible EICs and my advisor Mr. Kandell, I have slowly acclimated to the program, and I hope to continue improving my InDesign skills over the rest of the year.

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This year, I was promoted to editorials editor, which I have found to be particularly rewarding. Learning to help the staff reach a consensus by balancing the perspectives of the editorials writers and the class as a whole has been a challenging but fulfilling process.

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As a high school journalist, I feel I have a responsibility to highlight the issues of our community and our world that matter to young people, but reporting on the viewpoints of general residents is just as valuable. Last year, I was able to report on a fundraising effort for the Palo Alto Creamery, which helped to raise awareness and funding to support the restaurant during COVID-19, and hearing the owner of the restaurant recount his struggles to me during the time was a deeply moving experience that gave me a newfound respect for local small business owners. ​

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As I have matured, both as a journalist and as a person, I have increasingly found that it is not only a journalist's job to report the truth, but to consider the stories and voices we choose to highlight that shape the reality of our world. It's imperative that when we write about issues, particularly contentious ones, that we take into account all of the perspectives, giving critical context to all points of view. The fact is, journalists have immense power to guide the reader towards a particular point of view - and they must use this power wisely.​

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Reflecting after a year at Verde ...

Halfway through the second semester, I decided to become the Perspectives editor for our publication; making this switch was a welcome change that enabled me to even more fully to showcase my interests and commitment to Verde. Watching my peers express their authentic passions and nuanced opinions has filled me with a greater appreciation for having such a hardworking and dedicated staff. Helping perspectives flourish such as that of a departing senior explaining her feelings upon leaving for college was deeply emotional to see. I found that my check-ins with peers as they wrote and designed their perspectives were helpful in ensuring that our stories were completed in a timely manner (although admittedly there were some story writers that required more reminding than others). Working as a Perspectives editor also helped me form closer bonds with our new EIC's, and their support greatly strengthened my bond with the Verde community and my trust in Verde's leadership. 

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Parallel to the experience becoming a perspectives editor, I had the challenging but rewarding task of writing a story centering a transgender athlete at Paly while broadening to the intense national and international debate surrounding this issue. This story presented my story partner and I with a multitude of ethical concerns, both due to the fact that our subject was a minor and because of the intense nature of the highly polarized debate. Thus, we had our subject sign a release form and received consent from their parents given the personal nature of this story. However, we were ultimately able to contact some of the leading experts on the issue of transgender sports including Joanna Harper, a former trans athlete herself and internationally renewed researcher. Every source we met with emphasized the nuance that is often ignored on this issue, namely that whether transgender athletes should participate depends on the age level of the athlete and competitiveness of the event, among other factors. While this story required considerable time spent with the editors and our journalism advisor, the time was well spent as we created a heartfelt, well-researched, and provocative story that elegantly synthesized the diverse perspectives when it comes to this issue. 

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Next year, I plan to keep pushing forward in much the same manner I have this year - never being afraid to write and publish bold and nuanced stories that help our community understand not simply the day-to-day issues and hot topics that engulf the news, but the deeper undercurrents that define our culture and the lenses in which we process information. Good journalism should not just peel back the curtain on the nature of others, but the nature of ourselves, the readers, and it is my sincere belief that I have been able to create this form of journalism at Verde. Next year, I want to keep experimenting with new types of stories, including some with a lighter focus such as food reviews or other community-based stories. Overall, I am so proud of all of the work that I have done at Verde, and am so thankful for the tremendous community of support. See you next year!

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Reflecting after a year (and a half) at Verde ...

 

I would characterize this semester as one of freedom and exploration at Verde. In my role as Perspectives Editor, I have diligently helped students of all backgrounds write compelling and readable stories, while as a staff writer, I have written three stories, all of which involve topics I have long been excited to explore. 

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My conduct as Perspectives Editor has evolved slightly over the course of this semester. I began the year helping a student who wanted to write about his experiences with Taekwondo and struggled to approach the edits the EICS and myself were leaving. At times, this student would argue that our comments were not necessary, and would frequently ignore our feedback altogether. As such, I knew I had to intervene, and upon checking in with the EICs, realized that it was partially our mistake as well - we had left somewhat conflicting edits and were not unified in our vision for the story. With this in mind, I had a lengthy discussion with the EICs, ensured we had a group consensus on how the story should generally flow (without disrupting the staff writer's own experiences and ideas), and then returned to the staff writer with a specific and tangible to-do list for the story that, upon further supervision, the staff writer was able to accomplish. 

 

While this staff writer did require some monitoring from myself and the EICs (I learned to balance being firm and helpful without being overly harsh in my tone or the wording of my edits), this story also helped me realize the importance of communication and my role as a section editor in facilitating that communication between myself, the staff writer, and the EICs. I realized if all 3 of these parties, no matter the story, are not on the same page, it makes it incredibly difficult for the staff writer to move forward, and so this experience taught me to check in early with both of these groups to ensure that we are united in (at least a general) vision for the story. This is critical in ensuring that I am a better student leader as I move into my last semester at Verde and beyond.

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I was so proud of so many of Verde's staff writers who did an amazing job, whether they wrote about their personal experiences with cat allergies, social media, or even a car crash. This semester, I placed a lot of emphasis when we conducted story pitches on including more perspectives tackling current events, and was pleased when one student wrote a fantastic piece on Kamala Harris. I ultimately decided to write a story following the midterm elections, directly addressing some of the places I felt the Democratic Party could improve as they learn from an election in which they did surprisingly well. I was very proud of this story, and it felt great to project some of the dissatisfaction I have with the current political system into an article for Verde. I also had a chance this semester to do another story I had hoped to write for a long time... a food review! Getting to go out, try the pudding and boba shop Tong Sui with a Verdite, and write was an absolute delight as I also learned how to operate one of Verde's cameras for the first time (see photojournalism reflection). 

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Overall, I feel I have learned a lot this semester and I'm very excited for another semester at Verde!​

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Reflecting after two years at Verde ...

 

Over the past two years at Verde, I have learned an enormous amount about the journalistic process and as I head off to college I aim to continue utilizing the lessons I have learned with Verde. 

 

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to join Verde after seeing the captivating spread designs and the wide variety of stories featured, from athlete profiles to food reviews to passionate opinion pieces. However, there was one catch for me. I had become very passionate about national politics and national issues as a whole, whether they be the preservation and expansion of the democratic process, global warming, healthcare access, or other issues, and I feared that coming to Verde would force me to only focus on local stories, and at the expanse of these national issues I was interested in. In other words, I didn’t truly understand the value of local journalism. 

 

But over the next two years, this idea slowly disappeared, as I increasingly begin to see not only that I was not prevented from discussing national issues (in fact, I was encouraged to do so) but in addition the local stories I was covering often were deeply interwoven with national and even global issues of nearly universal significance. Many of the stories I worked on helped me recognize that the work I was doing had the potential to actually change the minds of members of our community. This was particularly in the case with my trans athlete story (see earlier reflections for more on this).

 

My very last story, a feature about Same Moon Same Stars, exemplified the type of journalism I found most meaningful at Verde. As part of the story that involved interviewing the students who helped put the mural together, we got a chance to visit the mural unveiling to take photos and even got a chance to speak with the mural’s subject, Kimberly Teehee. Teehee is a national leader in the Cherokee Nation and could potentially become the newest member of Congress. Speaking one-on-one with her really imparted to me the power and access that belongs with a student publication and made me even more motivated to use the limited time I had with her (and future subjects for stories) responsibility, to ask interesting and nuanced questions. I also appreciated that in the case of this story, Mr. Kandell, my journalism advisor, encouraged my story partner and I to ultimately take a different angle on this story than we had originally planned because the current one (focusing mainly on the history of the Cherokee Nation and the mural) had already been covered by other sources. This I think illustrated the importance of covering a story that contained new and novel information, a story that my community would be interested in regardless of whether they had heard about the topic or not.

 

Of course, Verde also taught me a lot of skills that reach far beyond journalism. Forcing myself to extend beyond the types of stories I was comfortable with (political and opinion pieces) and instead writing more fun and casual stories such as food and music reviews really gave me a chance to explore new sides of myself. In addition, I have learned to utilize platforms such as Wordpress, Slack, and Indesign, which I now feel quite comfortable using.

 

Ultimately, I am extremely proud of my time at Verde, and hope to continue to develop the skills I learned with regards to writing, critical thinking, and design in the years to come. Thank you to Mr. Kandell, my editors, and everyone at Verde!