MY STORIES:

• Nursing homes leave wrong impression on youth
• Independent living: a community of friends
• Senior drivers: an annoyance, safety concern or best drivers on the road?
• Athlete for life: staying healthy and active in later life

MY BLOG:

On the first day of class when it was announced that our focus for the semester would be aging I almost groaned out loud. On a regular basis I write about athletes and the great things they accomplish and was not looking forward to writing about the aging and elderly. As the class progressed, however, I gained a new appreciation for our subject matter and the issues that face the aging population. I was able to interview several amazing individuals and came to realize that most seniors have lived extraordinary lives, they only need someone to tell their stories.

Many of my classmates focused on issues like fraud, medicare, finances and many other issues that face seniors today. I, however, wanted to focus more on the people and chose two profile-like stories for my larger in-depth articles. I wanted to be able to bring to life the stories of the people I interviewed while still being able to talk about issues facing seniors. This was harder than I had imagined and took more research and work than I was prepared for. I learned that it sometimes takes out-of-the box thinking to overcome challenges and setbacks. The work was rewarding and in the end I was pleased with what I had accomplished.

This was definitely a new type of writing for me. I was writing about a subject I was unfamiliar with, to a target audience I wasn’t used too. I definitely grew as a writer and expanded my skills for both writing and interviewing. The experience taught me so much about my writing and the endless possibilities for stories there are in the world. I learned so much that will benefit me and my writing in the future.

ABOUT ME:

I am a 22-year-old senior studying Mass Communication and Psychology. I have loved writing since I was a little girl when I would write short stories about anything and everything. I didn’t consider making writing a career until I was a senior in high school and became the Editor-in-chief of my high school’s newspaper. I fell in love with the job of writing and putting together the paper for publication. When I began writing news for the Daily Utah Chronicle my freshman year I knew I had found my dream job. Three years later I have moved from news into the sports section and am currently working as the sports editor. Sports have always been a passion of mine and being able to write about them everyday is a dream come true.

I was born and raised in a little tiny town in Eastern Utah. Growing up with three sisters and parents that loved sports I got the best of both worlds; playing with Barbie dolls and watching football on TV. I have played a variety of sports my whole life, starting with basketball and volleyball when I was in fourth grade. Sports have taught me so many lessons about life. It’s those lessons that I hope to illuminate through writing about other athletes. I would love to write for Sports Illustrated or ESPN The Magazine someday but would be just as content covering high school sports for a small newspaper.

I moved to Salt Lake shortly after I graduated from high school to attend the U. I have loved living in Salt Lake but am looking forward to new experiences and places outside of Utah.

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists |