Throughout my journalism college career, I’ve had the opportunity to developed my writing skills through school clubs and classes in the journalism program.
Below are six articles that have either been published in the Daily Campus (UConn’s daily newspaper) or written for advanced journalism classes.
Although my video work mainly consists of sports, I wanted to diversify my written work by writing stories on climate change, university events and research, and other things UConn related.
You can read the article itself by clicking on the button and read a small blurb about the process of writing that article– the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Behind the games: What it takes UConn to prepare for game day
When you go to a sporting game, concert, or any big event, how often do you think about the preparation and planning it took to put that event?
I had always been interested in writing an article like this for Gampel Pavilion at the University of Connecticut. I had written something similar in my sophomore year, but I didn’t love it and knew I could do better. When my professor said that for our final article we could write about anything newsworthy, I fully committed to this idea.
I started off by making a list of who I wanted to interview. I found contacts for police officers, firefighters, custodians, and more. I then interviewed those people— with a mix of in person and phone interviews.
Through the Sweet Sixteen, Final Four, and National Championship, looked at how UConn prepared for the next event and asked questions about it.
Once I got my information, it was time to organize, which proved to be the toughest part. There was so much content to choose from and, like many writers, I felt that everything was important. However, I focused on the events and information I believed people would find most interesting.
The piece ended up being just over 1200 words, with four interviews, and a couple of pictures taken by me.
Which Olympic basketball team does Team USA need to watch out for?
I pitched this idea to the Daily Campus Sports, UConn’s daily newspaper. I thought about it after reading some discussion on the dominance of Team USA and if they would claim a fifth title this year in the Paris Olympics.
Despite USA’s streak, there has been a growth of international players since the last Olympics so I thought to look into any countries that might be serious contenders against Team USA.
I narrowed my picks to three– France, Germany, and Canada. I looked into their history of play, players that signed with the team, and what about that team stands out– whether it was defense, offense, young talent, or NBA stars.
I only had 600 words, so I had to narrow down my points and be concise. This proved a challenge because there were so many strong players and I couldn’t include everyone. It was hard to think if a team could actually beat Team USA, but I came up with some reason supported by evidence.
The US will face a longer allergy season
This article was written as my final assignment for my Environmental Journalism course at UConn.
The idea came to me after seeing myself and my father suffer from seasonal allergies– getting worse each year and extending into the summer. I did some research and found that other people have too been writing about this topic.
I decided to interview experts at UConn and those who have suffered from extreme seasonal allergies. I found that some people link the effects of climate change– a longer spring and summer season– with the seemingly longer allergy season.
EPOCH and Connecticut Humanities address the history of housing insecurity
EPOCH and Connecticut Humanities are programs based in Hartford, CT that address the history of housing insecurity while simultaneously providing a space for history majors to do research.
For this article, I interviewed Fiona Vernal, an associate professor at the UConn, who partnered with the Connecticut Humanities to work with Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories, or EPOCH.
This article was published in the Daily Campus and I hoped it would be a story about the research and projects that professors are embarking on to give more opportunities to students.
From coast to coast, what climate change means for vulnerable populations
In March of 2022, California saw an intense snow storm like none before. With over six feet of snow and wind gusts up to 70 mph, I saw this and thought about the various communities who were vulnerable to this type of weather.
I interviewed various experts at UConn and how they thought about the effects of extreme weather in California and in Connecticut.