Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t working on the newspaper at all?
A: “I’d be very bored. I’d be very, very bored because I spend a lot of my time with Mountain Echo, and I’m constantly looking for story ideas. I’m constantly writing. I’m constantly taking photos, so I think I would be a very bored human being.”
Q: What are you most excited for the school year?
A: “I’m excited to see what stories we can publish and what interesting events occur, that we can get out to the student body.”
Q: What is your favorite part when making an online newspaper?
A: “I really love editing stories, and I love seeing the story ideas that people come up with. Always, always interesting. One story that I loved was one of our reporters, Melissa Krainer, just recently wrote a story, an opinion piece on the 2024 election, and it was an absolutely incredible read. And I just love seeing what these reporters can come up with because they’re all so talented.”
Q: Is being a part of the newspaper in high school, different from junior high?
A: “Yes, the Livewire was very different. It was not as frequently updated. So whenever we had a story done, that’s when we would upload. And with Mountain Echo, we are on strict deadlines, and we have a story, at least a story or something going on every single day.”
Q: What do you hope to wish for next year if you’re still working with the newspaper?
A: “I hope to be able to have a positive working environment and just to have a staff that cares not only about the publication, but cares about each other as well.”
Q:Do you plan to make something like this out of your career when you get older?
A: “I do. I plan on attending George Mason University and having my major be in English and a minor in journalism.”
Q: If you had your own page in the yearbook, what would it be about?
A: “I don’t know how to answer that from a Mountain Echo standpoint. I would love to have my own blog. I thought for a while about having like a true crime kind of podcast thing, but obviously I don’t want to risk anything with the school, but I always thought that would be interesting and get a lot of friction. It would just be fun to create.”
Q: Do you regret anything from your past reporting?
A: I think my biggest regret is not pushing myself more. I say that because I love writing stories, but until probably my sophomore year, I was really timid about writing difficult stories and about really pushing for those different stories that might not occur otherwise. So after November of my sophomore year, it was kind of a turning point, and I remember the story that really made me want to deep dive into journalism and into those stories that deserve to be heard was one that I wrote on the homeless population with Abigail Rudy, and that one just really pushed me to want to go outside the box.”
Q: What was your favorite memory of last year or this year so far? I
A: “I think my favorite moment last year is not distinctive of the staff itself, but when I got a letter in the mail asking me to attend the Journalism and Media Conference as a National Youth Correspondent, because it really made me realize that I’m capable of what I do, and that I am doing something that matters.”
Q: What is the hardest part of being part of the staff?
A: “I think the hardest part is the pressure that I put on myself as an editor. I struggle to maintain the balance between being a friend and being a fellow reporter, but also being an editor who knows what strengths and weaknesses are. Strengths and weaknesses are not only of other staff members but of myself, and to struggle to have that balance. But I’m always working toward having my reporters and myself open and communicate information.”
