why i left i started to get busy right around the beginning of the fall semester. around that time, my grandfather died and i was hit with a grief that i couldn’t believe. 

my grandfather wasn’t just a familiar face i saw at family gatherings. for starters, we have a pretty small family and the extended family that i do have, i only have a very surface-level relationship with them (e.g.: my aunts, uncle, other grandparents) and with some extended family, i have no relationship at all. 

with my mom’s dad, i had a great relationship. i’d known him since i was little and he’d always been present in my life. we wrote letters to each other every week because he was in a veteran’s assisted living home about six hours away from me. 

that fall, i’d been talking about coming to visit him with my partner. the only thing stopping me was that my grandfather had just had a minor surgery done and was recovering. my mom suggested i wait until he was all healed up, but his health took a turn for the worst. 

i drove hours to the hospital and when i got there, he was already unconscious and had been for hours. unbeknownst to me, my mom had decided not to resuscitate him if his heart stopped. i watched him die. he was 72 when he died.

he had a great life and was obviously old, so he’d lived a nice, long life. it didn’t make the grieving process any easier.

what i did this past year here’s a bunch of stuff i did this past year/stuff that happened to me this past year:

i was sick on-and-off for three months

took a dna test and discovered my antidepressants weren’t working at all

doctor switched my meds

went to my first pride!!!! (i’m a bisexual woman)

i gained a bunch of weight

lived with two insufferable roommates (who have since moved out)

got an axolotl named dart!

was the assistant culture editor and then culture editor for a newspaper

was editor of a local magazine they were trying to kill (now i’m executive editor!) but it’s still on the publisher’s hit list

changed meds again

got all a’s!

got my scholarship back (grades had been bad for awhile)

made the dean’s list

got my minor in history

completed my interdisciplinary writing certificate

was accepted into my grad school of choice (for health journalism)

got rejected from cnn :( 

got accepted by webmd!!!

you’re a curious person by nature, a seeker of the truth. you want to be where the action is. that’s great!! however, just because you might not be actively writing for a publication and getting paid doesn’t mean you aren’t held by the same standards.

student journalists are incredibly important because we’re the future! it doesn’t matter if you’re in high school, writing for your school’s newspaper or yearbook, or in university, taking your first journalism classes. you should be held to the same standard as anderson cooper (okay, almost).

the more professional you are now, the easier it will be to transition into a paid position writing for some magazine or paper (or broadcast, if that’s more your speed). ergo, here are eight important things to remember as a student journalist.

1. ap style is your friend! i don’t want to see things like “on february 6th.” i want to see “on feb. 6.” it’s not “8pm” or “8 PM.” it’s "8:00 p.m.” she didn’t live at 126 legacy street, she lived at 126 legacy st. make sense? these little ap style rules that can be a pain to remember are actually super important and will bite you in the @$$ later if you don’t learn them early on as it’s a journalistic standard. oh. and NO OXFORD COMMA.

2. never interview someone over email/im/dm interviews should always be either in-person or over the phone (unless you get special permission from an eic/editor). but emails same so much time! why not? a lot of times, the reason is because the quotes you’ll get from in-person/over the phone interviews are more natural than they would be over email. the person being interviewed doesn’t have time to mull over the question for hours, so the quotes you’ll pull will be more true to their nature.

3. speaking of, always record your interviews well, try to. some people do not like to be recorded and you always have to ask before recording an interview. the pros to recording interviews include being able to go back and pull direct quotes as well as for verification. if something were to be published and the subject argues “that’s not what i said!” you’ll have undeniable proof that it is indeed what they said.

4. keep up to date on the news as a journalist (even a student journalist), it’s crucial to be well-versed on the daily happenings. in order to receive information that’s true and as non-biased as possible, it’s essential to check multiple outlets: the new york times, the washington post, fox, cnn, bcc, etc. if you’re as busy as i am, theskimm might be a viable option for you. every morning, theskimm emails you a quick briefing of the most recent happenings in a quick, concise format.

5. beware of fake news (yes, i said it) though many bash president donald trump for “obsessing” over fake news (regardless of your political stance), fake news is real. thus, the journalist’s biggest enemy is? you guessed it: fake news. how do we, as ethical journalists combat fake news? verification! verify everything. as one of my former professors said (and many other say), “if your mother says she loves you, check it out.”

6. a good lede can make or break a story ah, the dreaded lede! for some, ledes are mind-numbingly easy. for others, not so much. for a good lede, you need the most crucial information to the story: the what, where, why, and when (and sometimes how). a reader should be able to read the lede, peruse the rest of the story and have a good understanding of what the heck happened.

7. do not ever accept gifts from subjects! although this seems like a no brainer, it can be easy to forget. if you’re interviewing a band and they offer you a free t-shirt or merchandise, say no! if you’re interviewing a restaurant and they try to give you a coke or a burger, say no! for one of my own stories, i was interviewing a bake shop owner and she offered me “whatever you want.” surrounded by cupcakes, cookies, coffee, candy and cakes, i was forced to utter a polite, “no thank you.” stay strong and resist! gifts from subjects can be seen as bribes and could potentially make stories less impartial.

8. keep your eyes forward and focus on obtaining the truth and keep your personal opinion out of it! whatever beat you’re writing for, you should keep your own biases out of your writing (unless it’s some kind of album review or editorial, or obviously, an opinion piece). your job is to obtain the best version of the truth.