MY STORY

Personal Narrative

My interest in journalism has always been present in my life, as my mother worked in Public Relations, and my dad worked in broadcast journalism. Since sixth grade, I have taken a journalism class each year; however, I did not understand the structures of writing until eighth grade. What challenged me at first was how to fit a mountain of information into a page or less. While formulas usually helped me, the concise nature of news stories intimidated me. This instantly drew me more into feature writing, which followed, at times, a more chronological structure, and allowed for creative liberties to best suit the story.

My first step into published journalism was working under the Portfolio, a newspaper at Bak Middle School of the Arts. There, I learnt about the extent of workload, and the seriousness of the deadlines. It opened up new obstacles for me, because I often would be afraid to approach people, and I had only a pen and a notepad to record interviews. By November though, I began to internalize the process of reaching out to sources, getting interviews, writing, and editing. Additionally, I downloaded a recording app to document interviews. This is when I was able to look past the stress and appreciate reporting.

In 2023, I joined the Marquee yearbook, with even tighter deadlines and more content. Luckily by then, I have gotten over any fear of approaching people. What was a problem, though, was finding who to contact. Often, stories required me to talk to people two grades ahead of me, and no connection whatsoever. It forced me to reach out to people I know have a relation to that person, or occasionally going through Instagram direct messages. This wasn’t a foolproof method though, because sometimes the interviewee will never respond. At the beginning of the year, this terrified me because I would be in limbo for days. Now, though, I have learned to simply move in if they don’t respond in a timely manner, or to track them down in person through accounts of where they sit in the morning/lunch/class.

Last year, I took on the duty of coverage editor, not prepared for some of the more creative aspects of the job. Specifically, I had to think about the final design, and how all the pieces add to a whole, not just the individual stories. This learning curve was overcame through collaboration with the designers.

This year, I am the theme editor working with all the editors to make sure the theme of the yearbook is represented throughout the publication. This collaborative work is helpful for future group projects, and enhances my skills to gain consensus.

For the future, I hope to keep diving deeper into journalism. Being able to show truthfulness and conversationalism will help in interviews, and interactions within the career. Public relations attracts me the most, due to the family ties and the constant flow of meetings and press releases, which interest me in their content. Additionally, I would love to work alongside people to help present their best side to the world.

FSPA

Florida Scholastic Press Association

• First Place Steven J. Thor Mixed Company

• First Place On-Spot News Story

  • Journalism Schools Place Immediacy

• Runner-Up Aspiring Young Journalist of the Year

• Third Place Q&A Camp Orlando

• Second Place Feature Story - FSPA District 7

  • On Record

Honor Societies

• National Honor Society 2024-present

• Spanish Honor Society 2022 - present

• History Honor Society 2022-present

• English Honor Society 2022-2024

Awards & Accomplishments

AP Awards

• AP Scholar with Distinction Award - 2025

• AP Scholar - 2024

Relevant Classes & Workshops

• Creative Writing I & II

• AICE English Language AS

• AICE English General Paper 1

• AP English Literature

• Speech 1 & 2

• TV Production Tech 1

• Public Relations Society of America Sunshine District SunCon Conference - AP Track - June 2023

• Walsworth Yearbook Conference - August 2023, 2024 & 2025