Peyton Sa- Clubs Writer
I write for the Clubs section in the Redwood Gigantea. My specialty this year has been writing stories about the Art Club. Becoming a journalist this year has taught me a couple of things. It taught me how to jump into new situations with limited time to get comfortable. It also taught me how to talk to new people and how to ask good questions. My work is important because I showcase the voices of talented art students. Being able to give them a platform to share their voices has been very rewarding. One of my proudest moments during my time at the Gigantea was spending days constructing a paper-mache cow head for the cowhide door competition. One of my proudest moments was when I got one of my stories in the print edition for the first time. When I got to send a physical copy to my journalism big sister, Megan Mueller, I finally felt like I was doing something right. I hope I get to grow in journalism even more next semester.
Semester 1 Stories
Freshman Winner, Isabelle Wu, Wins Art Club's T-Shirt Contest
This is my first story written for the Gigantea. It is an interview with the art club shirt contest winner. This highlighted a skill I am still working on, which was not being scared to talk to new people in person. We were both nervous but I think it taught me that no matter what I’m feeling, to not look anxious. Because If I, the reporter, look anxious then it may cause the person I am interviewing to feel the same, and then the experience won’t go well and I won’t get great answers. I believe it does show good interviewing skills because I got very natural answers. I also tried not to ask too many questions, and kept the little questions I did ask thoughtful enough to expand upon.
This story showcases a Freshman voice. This story recognizes a young artist for her talent. Younger artists have the reputation of being really quiet, so publishing a story that highlights a young artist gives them the spotlight they deserve, without them having to talk to a whole bunch of people. It helps the reader community because it shows that the Redwood Gigantea doesn’t just write things about sports and asb, they cover the groups all over campus.
Art Club's Halloween Costume Contest Winner
This story is about the costume contest art club did for Halloween. It contained an interview with the contest winner and their feelings about winning. A journalistic strength this showcases is being able to write about events. I believe it shows good interviewing skills because it asks basic questions but in a way that makes them easy to elaborate on.
This story matters because it showcases a club activity. As a club writer, big club activities are a good thing to write about because they can all be very different. This could help the readers that are interested in art by showing them a group of art kids having fun. It shows students an activity, and it could give them a reason to get involved around Redwood.
How To: Make a TuTu
This was a how to article that I did inspired by Megan Mueller (basically my older sister). It was one of the first things I wrote, because I was so unsure of what to write about at that time. I didn't really know what I was doing, so I decided to make a craft. The story shows that I can take assignments, because this story wasn't really my idea it was a suggestion. It also shows that when pressed, I can make a short video to go with a story.
This story could help give ideas on the perfect football game or spirit day accessory. It also informs people how to make something. The beauty of making something is you feel accomplished after finishing it, and then you can re-use it over and over again.
Rally Club and Art Club: a Cowhide Collab
For some strange reason, the story below did not make it to the digital version of our Cowhide coverage, but it did make it to print.
I'm really proud of this piece. This was the first piece I ever got to print. This piece highlighted both art club and rally club. Rally club is more associated with ASB people, and Art club has all the art kids. The groups are very different, but this piece showed the school that those two different clubs could work together. I think it shows the skill of being able to find a way to get interesting answers from different people, while using the same questions.
This shows the community that even quiet art kids could do something with asb. It also shows that there are so many ways to be a part of the Ranger spirit.
Reflection
Where have I been?
I went to Journalism in an attempt to escape from AP Bio. Honestly, I thought it would be scary, but not super hard. I had friends in it the year before, and I would here all the stress about print editions and deadlines, so that made me a little nervous.
Where am I now?
By joining the class, I learned that I was wrong about it not being hard. Its not hard because there is a lot of work, but its hard because you have to work with deadlines and talk to new people all the time. Now that I've gotten to the end of the semester I have some new skills. I learned how to write in a newspaper format. I can now talk to new people with a little more ease. I have also learned about the importance of wording, or appropriate responses to backlash from a story.
Where am I going?
My first goal is to stay more on track. I often procrastinate on writing stories because I get too anxious to do interviews. Next semester I want to write more stories and keep on track. My second goal is to branch out with my writing. I tend to write about art club because I am a part of it, so it is easy for me. Next semester I want to try to write about other clubs more often. A goal for my section, would be to stay updated on club activity. I know it was really rough after cowhide because clubs stopped doing things. Hopefully second semester will give us more opportunities to write about different club activities.