I wrote over 50 articles for the student newspaper.
The first piece I ever wrote as a college student, academic or otherwise, was a news story for the Old Gold & Black student newspaper. In high school, I was a member of two different student publications, and writing, editing, and publishing for them is what took up a fair amount of my extracurricular time, so I decided that when I came to college, I would push myself out of my comfort zones and try new activities before ever writing for or working at the student newspaper. However, during the activities fair during orientation weekend, I passed by the Old Gold & Black booth. They explained that their article opportunities were sent out over a “budget” listserv every week, and writers could simply sign up for one by replying and signing up at any time, without attending any meetings or making any regular commitments. I figured it couldn’t hurt to put myself on the list. Then, during that weekend, my email address got confused with that of a regular writer, and I got personally emailed with a special assignment. Even though I let them know that I wasn’t who they meant to email, I immediately got excited about the piece, and ended up getting assigned it anyway.
I got to go to the OGB office and meet the news editors, who I was pretty sure were the coolest seniors ever, during my very first weekend here on campus, before I’d even started classes. They told me they’d get me an interview with Student Health Director Dr. Cecil Price, who was notoriously busy and hard to sit down with. When I interviewed him and wrote and submitted my article, I felt so important and so confident, and that was ultimately one of the most informative experiences I had during my first semester. Joining the OGB even when I’d planned not to so soon and realizing my passion for writing is what led me to my minor and two internships I had later. I served as an editor for three different sections and for five semesters. It’s so interesting now to go back and read the piece that started it all and find that while there are places where I don’t follow AP style or standard journalistic conventions and a couple of wordings I’d change, it’s actually still a well-written piece that feels informative with authority and one I’m still really proud of.
The Old Gold & Black is Wake Forest University's only official independent student newspaper, founded in 1916, printed weekly, and published online.I worked for the publication for two years as an editor in three sections and later served as a senior writer. Below, I've included a record of every piece I wrote, organized by section and in reverse chronological order. Additionally, I also took photographs or created graphics for many of my pieces, and these are published with my stories on Old Gold & Black website.