Writing
Although I began my journalism career with broadcasting and pride myself in being a storyteller through multiple mediums, writing is the form of journalism with which I've had the most extensive experience. I got my start in the sports section, but now I'm most passionate about writing extensive, in-depth features that challenge the reader to consider multiple perspectives or think about something new that day. Below, I've linked 11 of my written stories, I chose these 11 because they illustrate the broad scope of subjects I cover. Each story on here challenged me differently, and they're the pieces that best define my journalistic character.
News
Addressing reality of violence
The school shooting epidemic is a loaded, complex topic, and this story is the quintessential example of localizing a national topic for a high school audience. Our community had a few school shooting threats at the same time we had our first hard lockdown drill of the year. Beginning with a news peg of the hard lockdown drill, I then delved into the history of school shootings, balanced student and teacher opinion on school safety, and addressed school safety policies.
(published in The Prospector on October 25, 2024)
Disruptive empathy
It's hard to put into words how much this story changed me. There are so many ways a high school publication can cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wrong, and although I looked at the mistakes other publications made, the fear that I could cause hurt was always in the back of my head.
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I interviewed seven sources for this story, but only two made it on the page. Some source's beliefs were beyond the scope of my coverage, some dropped out due to safety concerns, and others I felt I couldn't balance the experiences of. After speaking with five Israeli and Palestinian students, I realized that with such an emotionally charged issue like war, it's not the role of high school media to compare and contrast student experiences. With the emotional overstimulation of social media, it's easy to become detached from the effects of war until you are face-to-face with those affected by it.
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Instead, I used the news peg of the ceasefire and one of my source's recent experiences to explore how students can healthily discuss historical trauma. I introduced a high school audience to "disruptive empathy," a framework that challenges students to critically engage with other perspectives — even those that could be considered the opposition — and acknowledge the historical wounds that shape them.
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(published in The Prospector on February 7, 2025)
Realigning rivalries in new MSL
Although the other two stories I've listed were news-feature, this story is pure news. It details division changes to my high school's athletic conference, the Mid-Suburban League (MSL). I interviewed three sources for this story, the athletic director, the basketball head coach and a lacrosse player, to balance the staff experience of organizing and coaching games with the student experience of playing and watching them. This story challenged my timeliness and news gathering, as the story and page were written and designed in three days.
(published in The Prospector on February 7, 2025)
Sports
All confidence on mound, at plate
This piece is the perfect example of how the story of a high school athlete is more than just their accomplishments. Jack Mannion is by no means an average baseball player, he plays college club ball at UIUC. But, what defined him in high school was that he was only pitcher/hitter on varsity, despite the head coach initially discouraging him from it. The story primarily focuses on Mannion's journey to confidence. I balanced the perspectives of Mannion and the head coach, while using the assistant coach — who happened to have been coaching Mannion since he was a kid — to give insight into how Mannion's mental game changed over time.
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(published in The Prospector on April 22, 2024)
Knights fall to King in historic first-ever girls’ flag football game; learning experience
Covering a brand-new sport is never straightforward, especially when neither the referees nor coaches are entirely sure of the rules. This led to a play at the end of the game in which the referees didn't stop the clock, and Prospect's quarterback spiked the ball to force a stoppage. I used that play to expand on the general rule confusion throughout the game, explain the differences between traditional 11v11 football and 7v7 football, and get the head coach's and players' thoughts about the upcoming season. In hindsight, I believe this was the best way to cover the game. It provides a place for students to learn about girls' flag football rules while also delivering the information and entertainment of a game review.​
(published on ProspectorNow on August 29, 2024)
From alumnus to Paris Olympian
Erin Reese had a wild story of how she made the Olympics for hammer throw, and chronicling it was definitely a challenge. I sat through around two hours of interviews with Reese and her coach to fully understand the complexities of the hammer throw event and how she eventually made the Olympics. I'm proud of how I was able to boil down a five year journey into one story. However, if I were to redo it I would split it up into either two stories or multiple sections. While some of my favorite journalistic pieces are long chronicles, from a design point, I feel like chronicles in a newspaper and not a features magazine — or book — should be broken up for easier readability. It would be as simple as splitting the story into her 2021 and 2024 Olympic trials.
(published in The Prospector on September 23, 2024)
Features
Incoming year of dragon; Inclusivity
When I heard that our newspaper would be coming out the day before the 2024 Lunar New Year, I knew I had to do a story for it. I decided to focus not only on what celebrations occur on Lunar New Year but also on how representation plays into the knowledge of the holiday. This story has a special place in my heart because it was the first story I wrote in the newspaper where the senior members put their hands back and allowed me to show what I could do. I included two students' perspectives, a teacher and an administrator, to illustrate the experience of being Asian in the United States and the benefits of representation. This story tackles everything from keeping traditions alive to how Asian staff members made their way through the education field, all with the central theme of holiday representation.
(published in The Prospector on February 9, 2024)
This story is the "sequel" to the Lunar New Year story. While that story emphasizes the benefits of representation, this story uncovers what happens when there isn't representation. The story primarily focuses on Ross Harano, a third-generation Japanese American born in an internment camp. By including Harano and a fourth-generation Japanese American student, I was able to illustrate the complex struggle of Asian American identity caused by a lack of representation: the fact that despite their families being in the United States for over a century, they are still treated like foreigners.
It was tough to put this story together because I had to balance the historical trauma Harano and my student source experienced while also acknowledging the perspectives of a U.S. history teacher trying to both teach an AP curriculum and educate on issues less spoken about in the past.
(published in The Prospector on May 24, 2024)
Reflecting on Asian American education
Opinion
My solution to the media's misinformation mess
I wish I had more media literacy education when I was a child. Although I had some, most of my media literacy stemmed from doing high school journalism, making my own mistakes, and learning from them. If it took me until I joined the newspaper to gain basic media literacy skills, how are students who aren't getting media programs learning how to navigate perspectives? In light of this question, I wrote an op-ed investigating the causes of misinformation on the internet and what students can do to protect themselves from it. This story was the Illinois Journalism Education Association's runner-up for Best Serious Commentary in 2024.
(published on ProspectorNow on January 24, 2024)
Packed Prospect needs new gym
Although short and about a seemingly mundane subject — indoor athletic spacing problems during the winter months — this staff editorial is one of the most important in my journalism career. This story taught me how to address administrative policy and the nuances between competing perspectives. I interviewed four people for this editorial: two coaches, an athlete, and the athletic director. Through carefully selected syntax, I acknowledged the need for a new gym, the responsibility of the district administration to provide for five other schools, and the work the athletic director is putting in behind the scenes. In all, creating a concise and responsibly written call to action.
(published in The Prospector on March 8, 2024)
“Gladiator II” Review: Not just a movie — a holiday lesson
I know what you're thinking when you read that headline. While this is not the hard-hitting journalism I live to create and have included throughout my portfolio, I added this story because it was my first attempt at a movie review. It's a blog post style column that showcases my voice as a writer, which can sometimes be lost in the rigor of trustworthy journalism. The column takes the reader on a sort of emotional arc where, yes, I actually conclude that "Gladiator II" has a holiday-themed moral.
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(published on ProspectorNow on November 28, 2024)