MY STORIES:

• Roy coffee shop stays in business by focusing on customers
• Roy pharmacy prescribes customer care
• Roy City gets “facelift” in hope of growth

MY BLOG:

Feeling a bit uneasy, I walked into my first day of Voices of Utah in room 2940 in the Language and Communication building on the University of Utah campus. I had sat through several broadcast classes but never a substantial writing class where my work would be published. To be quite honest, I was terrified. I knew how to speak to others and how to operate an interview but I never learned to output those interviews into words.

From interview after interview, I found myself learning more and more about the community I live in, the way people react differently, the passion of journalism and myself. I learned that I am able to pay great attention to the detail, whether it’s in someone’s face or the room we are sitting in. Each interview I was a part of has prepared me for a better future by knowing how to ask questions, notice the small things and especially how to prepare and present myself.

Beat reporting has shaped my views on the journalism world, in that it becomes useful to become an expert in a certain topic that interests you. Having local business as a beat was a learning experience as well as an interesting experience. I never had realized what these local businesses are going through day-by-day. I gained a whole new respect for these different businesses as well as a love for beat reporting. I know that beat reporting in sports is going to be the perfect fit for me after this experience. I love sports and I love to talk about them. Being an expert in sports is my perfect match.

I learned to love the art of writing, but my heart still lies in the hand of the broadcast journalism world. I might add, however, this writing class strengthened my passion for telling a story and giving the community the information that they deserve. With the different writing styles, tips and tricks I now feel that I know how to tell a story through print in a creative way that shows a story rather than simply tells it. That uneasy feeling I had the first day of class has transformed into the feeling of hopefulness, confidence, reliability and independence.

Thank you to Professor Mangun and my classmates for taking the time to teach me so many valuable tricks. I have the upmost respect for every single one of you and I will always value the opportunities that I have had through the Voices of Utah journey.

ABOUT ME: 

It took a bomb threat my senior year of high school for me to realize that my life was meant to be in the world of journalism. As student body president at Roy High School in my hometown of Roy, Utah, I got a call that I needed to be at the school in 20 minutes ready to speak to every news agency in the state. I had to be the voice of Roy High School for the entire world. Standing in front of those very cameras, I found my calling for journalism. It was a rush of adrenaline flowing through my veins, watching the camera man run from different locations to get a variety of shots and hearing the reporter ask questions to get to the very bottom of the story. The chaotic experience made me want to dive in and explore this new world.

Knowing that I was born a Ute, I was excited to begin my journey at the University of Utah in 2012. Now a senior, I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds and am ready to take on any obstacle placed in my pathway. I will graduate from The U in May 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

Since I was a young child, I have loved making people smile — I’ve always believed that it was my way of putting my personal mark on this large world filled with 7 billion individuals. I quickly found I would have more opportunities to make people smile through the journalism route by specializing in sports and feature stories. I believe that journalists are the voice of the rest of the world and have the opportunity to impact so many lives.

I love spending time with family, dancing, making memories and watching every single Utah Jazz basketball game­ — because once a Jazz fan, always a Jazz fan. I look forward to the possibility of a career in sports journalism. (Fingers crossed it’s a career with the Utah Jazz.) “You have to believe in yourself before anyone else.” – Julie Arthur (AKA my mom) These are words I live by and I know that with my heart and dedication I can put forth the effort in accomplishing my dreams as a journalist.

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