Ava Skoglund - Sports/Arts Writer
I am a writer for the sports section and have been writing pre game stories. From being a journalist I have learned that there is a big variety of different people and how they answer certain questions. Everyone has different perspectives on things so I like getting to know how people look at things differently. My work is important because it's different from everyone else's because everybody writes differently. I am proud of completing my stories and getting the amount of story views that I've gotten. I'm proud that there have been multiple stories that I have finished writing and not just let die.
Semester 1 Stories
Color guard looks ahead to 2022 marching season:
The first story I wrote was about color gaurd and what their upcoming season will look like. This story shows good interviewing because every person I interviewed in the story says something different. There is a variety of perspectives on the color guard team. This story says a lot about color guard and what they do. I learned a lot from this interview because it was my first time interviewing and it showed me what I should expect from the people I speak to in the future.
This story matters because it shows people that aren't aware of color guard who they are why they matter. It impacts the color guard team because they can feel noticed and appreciated.
*** Make sure that both the image and the headline are clickable links that take the reader to the story you are highlighting here.
Bye Bye Birdie: The Cast List Posted, Who's in it?
This is a story that I wrote about the lead roles' perspectives on the musical in Bye Bye Birdie. All 3 lead roles that were interviewed each gave different answers on how they were influenced and why they decided to try out for the musical. This shows my writing skills because I included all of these people's perspectives and I tried my best not to leave anything out.
This story matters because the lead roles got to share with readers what this musical is about and what it looks like behind the scenes. When people read about this, it might help encourage them to go watch the musical because now they know what the process looks like. It could also encourage other people to try out for future musicals.
Redwood Varsity Soccer Is Ready For First Game
I wrote this story about boys varsity soccer's first game. I interviewed two players to get their ideas on how they think the game is going to go and how prepared they are. They both described differently how they are preparing themselves and what the expect from the team for their first game. This story shows that my interviewing skills have improved since the first story I wrote because for this story I asked a wider variety of questions so I got better answers.
This story matters because it shows how the team prepares for their games, or specifically their first game. Since they haven't had any games yet, they didn't know what to expect when playing in their game. Getting their thoughts on what they think will happen was really interesting and made this story important.
Boys Soccer Prepares to Play Harold S. Young
I wrote this story about boys varsity soccer playing at Harold S. Young and trying to make a comeback after recently losing 2 games. I interviewed 2 team members, one junior and one senior, to get their perspective on how they've been preparing to make a comeback at this game. This story shows that I've gotten better at formatting stories and how I should word certain things.
This story is important because after the team lost twice, it's very interesting to know how they're looking at the situation and what they think will happen. A lot of people probably expected them to be upset and maybe not feel confident about playing at this game, but this story shows that they feel confident and prepared for this game.
Reflection
In this area, reflect on your growth. This work should have three parts.
Where have I been?
Before I took journalism, I expected it to be a lot like a writing class where you write things like made up stories and learn about writing. I didn't know what the Redwood Gigantea was before taking journalism. I thought it would be similar to an english class and learn things like grammar and how to write better stories.
Where am I now?
Now that I'm taking journalism, I've gained skills like interviewing. I hadn't ever interviewed somebody before taking journalism, but now I know a lot about how to do it and what I should expect from it. I can now write stories quicker because after writing multiple stories for the gigantea, I am used to how to do it.
Where am I going?
One of my goals that I have in journalism for next semester is to write at least 7 stories. I also want to be consistent with the stories that I write and write the same way. A goal that I have for specifically my section is to write a story on why cheer is a sport.