Specials | Seniors Say Goodbye 2019

THE DAILY PRESENTS:

SENIORGOODBYES

All Photos by Conor Courtney The Daily

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2 SUMMER 2019

THE DAILY

Andreas Redd

By Andreas Redd The Daily Holy shit — what the hell just happened?

When I said, “I want The Daily to consume me,” never did I think that I’d be eaten alive. If you let it, it’ll suck you right in like a wet noodle.

And like the wet noodle you are, you wildly flap around every which way until there’s nothing left. You just get chewed up.

But it spits you out. You’ll lose a finger or two, develop a limp maybe, but it spits you out. And when it does, you change. You’re not a noodle anymore, surely, but you change alright. You’re new, definitely different, and not quite certain if, after it’s all over, you’re a pile of poop.

But boy did this wet-noodleno-more ever think he’d get the satisfaction of drinking wine with several Washington Supreme Court justices, an opportunity to have a real impact on our community (which, for the record and contrary to what most think, we do), and, most importantly, be allowed to lead you people? No, maybe, and absolutely not.

I couldn’t have done it without all my fellow newsroom noodles, who let The Daily slurp them up and spit them out. Individually, we are singular wet noodles. But together, we are a delicious bowl of pasta.

So, to everyone who has given me the opportunity to work with you, thanks for being my pasta.

To, Mira, you are the Noodle-inChief now. And you earned it. You stood by me when things got hard and stepped up when I need you to. The newsroom respects you and you have countlessly shown that you deserve it. Next year will have its own set of challenges, but you are ready to take them. If I leave you with one piece of advice, it’s to stay calm and trust your people. You may feel alone at times, but just know that you aren’t.

To Niva and Manisha, you two are absolutely the fiercest women I know. Y’all are strong, relentless, intimidating, and an inspiration to me and everyone in the newsroom.

You two have unflinchingly pursued the hardest stories The Daily

publishes, and in the process, have shown me that, of all that’s needed to fight all the bullshit in this world, it’s the example that you set that will be the most impactful.

To Jenna and Alyson, never have I been more saved than when you two took on the behemoth that is Welcome Edition. It was one of the first things we were tasked to do, and it felt like I was gifted two saints from heaven I really didn’t deserve.

Being the first editors I was given the opportunity to work beside, both of you set the standard for what a good editor should look like; I knew that, if I wanted everyone else to be like anyone, it sure as hell better have been Jenna and Alyson.

To Sam and Trevor, y’all are the most selfless people I know.

This year, without fail you two have spent your Sundays, always late in the night, thanklessly correcting grammar, AP style, and fact-checking every single piece of content we published — and always without complaint. Copy editing is famously the most unrewarding job in a newsroom. If you do it right, your work goes unnoticed; if you do it wrong, everyone notices. Neither you nor your copy editors get bylines or recognition, but still you two show up with enthusiasm and a willingness to work unlike anyone else at The Daily. And, might I add, I believe I can safely say that we avoided any major spelling mistakes in print (quite the accomplishment), all thanks to you two.

SENIOR GOODBYES

Editor in Chief 18-19 To Josh and my fellow Augustan Alec, you two were the most supportive from the beginning.

Y’all had faith in me and gave me the confidence to start the job without fear. Both of you have shown a dedication to this paper that no one can match, not even me. Tirelessly, y’all have worked to create the best sports section in the Pac-12, be a mentor to writers, and move The Daily forward. And, I can confidently say that you two will be incredibly respected sports journalists.

To Conor, you are one of the most talented photographers I know.

And I could not have had a better buddy to sit next to, shoot newsroom hoops, and endure dags with than you. But through all the dags, you kept your head up and level; you were faced with innumerable challenges and handled them with grace and dignity. I say this with the utmost sincerity: you are one of the most fundamentally whole people I know, and I look up to you as a role model. Hell yeah, brother.

To Shahbaz, Hailey, Charlotte, Sierra, Rachel, Sammi, Leslie, Abby, Devon, Claudia, Christine, Parker, Isaac, and everyone at The Daily, thank you for your dedication, hard work, and pushing me and each other. You are all the reason why The Daily is improving, and will be the reason why it continues to next year.

Signing off, your Noodle-in-Chief.

Andreas Redd

SENIOR GOODBYES

SUMMER 2019

THE DAILY

Amy Hsuan Chiu

By Amy Hsuan Chiu The Daily I still remember how excited I felt when researching for college as a high schooler. I remember I saw The Daily from the school website. On my application, I remember I wrote down, “I want to become a writer at The Daily.” And, as you may have guessed, I did it!

For the past three years and a half, I learned the power of words, the power of reporting, and the power of stories. All the people I have met and interviewed, including artists, social workers, and movie directors broadened my view. “These are

people who enjoy their lives and love their jobs; I want to be an adult like that too,” I remember thinking.

I’ve done an interview through an international phone call from Russia for “UW named a top producer of Fulbright students in 2015-16;” I’ve talked to directors who are supporting women and young leaders; I’ve learned the importance of mental health awareness from the counseling center; I’ve heard stories from movie directors at the first annual Seattle Taiwanese American Film Festival. Their voices, their passion, and their energy motivated me and reminded me why I started

Blake Peterson

By Blake Peterson The Daily

I went to college thinking I’d either major in graphic design or journalism. After taking a required industrial-design class fall quarter of my freshman year and realizing I was way out of my element, I decided to go with the second option. To this day, that’s one of the best choices I’ve ever made. Another was taking The Daily’s development course and becoming a staff writer my sophomore year.

Naturally, the journalism program’s curriculum, which is rigorous and regularly anxietyinducing but also made up of some of the best classes I’ve taken, puts an emphasis on news writing. There was a part of me that I wanted to explore more — the pop-culture obsessive with a predilection for entertainment-related criticism and reporting — that I wasn’t always so sure I’d be able get to do through classes and internships. I’d read a life-altering piece of criticism or a particularly vivid celebrity profile in Entertainment Weekly or Rolling Stone, for instance, or digest basically anything by Roger Ebert, Robert Christgau, Pauline Kael, and a myriad of other writers, and think to myself that that was exactly what I wanted to do while also not being sure how to make that a reality.

Through The Daily, I was able to turn a fantasy into something

concrete. During my time here, I’ve gotten the opportunity to write hundreds of pieces of arts-centric criticism, done a handful of reported pieces, and hosted two arts-related podcasts. These accomplishments were once far-away-seeming — a little like pipe dreams, honestly. But all because of The Daily’s support, that changed.

I’m grateful to anyone who has ever edited me, however briefly. Thank you Spencer Kelty, Mohammed Kloub, Colin Piwtorak, Cameron Eldridge, Rebecca Gross, Andreas Redd, and Sierra Stella for helping shape my abilities over the last two years. Thank you to all the illustrators and photographers who have visually enhanced my pieces, and to the copy editors for polishing my work.

I especially want to thank Cameron and Sierra, who I’ve worked with most, and Aidan Walker, with whom I hosted one of my podcasts. Cameron and Sierra, I can’t underscore enough how much I value your support and the amount of time you devoted to improving my pieces. Time and time again you both gave me a generous amount of creative freedom and helped me convey my thoughts, which can teeter toward nonsensicality, more clearly. You instilled in me a conviction I didn’t have when I first started with The Daily. Aidan, your excitement for, dedication to, and time invested in our podcast gave

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Writer writing. These are people and stories that inspire me to keep writing, to keep going.

It’s time. I will bring the best of me and everything I learn to the world.

I know there is still a lot that I need to work on both as a young adult and as a writer, but I am ready. I will keep writing and sharing stories with people I meet in the future.

Lastly, I want to thank the section editors, managing editor, photographers, and illustrators for making every article possible at The Daily. Thank you! I’m so grateful to have been a part of this big family.

Writer me a new passion for the arts. I’m so appreciative that you pushed me out of my comfort zone (aka giving me the confidence to speak into a microphone for long periods of time) — I likely would have never even attempted to podcast without your encouragement.

And to my family and friends: thank you for always reading and sharing my posts on social media and being just as excited as I was when one of my pieces made it into a sacrosanct physical edition.

It’s been an honor being part of a publication that has consistently published some of the best and most important writing and reporting in the Seattle area. I can genuinely say that I’ve gotten star-struck casually meeting some fellow staffers. (One of my biggest regrets, now that I’m graduating, was not getting to know more of you — I’m truly in awe.)

Who knows what my life will look like professionally in the coming decades. What I do know, however, is that I hope other students, like me, get involved with this publication no matter what kind of writing or creative projects they’d like to pursue — and that someday I find as great a place to work at as The Daily.

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SUMMER 2019

THE DAILY

Leslie Fisher

By Leslie Fisher The Daily I don’t really know what I’m doing with this goodbye letter. I’ve never felt like I was good at personal writing, which might be why I ended up as The Daily’s science editor for a time rather than an opinion columnist or a creative nonfiction writer. I hated the essay I wrote for my college application which included a lame story about my grandpa and a chicken. But The Daily has made such a huge impact on my life that I feel like I owe it to this publication to at least try.

When I started development, I was already a junior but still rather quiet and terrified of interviewing people. I chose the most nonintimidating pitches I could find for my first articles — gratitude, Humble Feast, and a guide to local Christmas lights. I knew I liked writing, but I never expected to get hooked on journalism. Of course, that’s exactly what happened.

More than anything else in my academic career, The Daily encouraged me to take on new challenges. My first science article took me deep into the biology behind the flu vaccines of the future.

I went forest bathing, covered a rally, and talked with an astrobiologist about how she would go about searching for life outside Earth.

(Apparently, it would be easier to find microbes than giraffes because they leave more of an impact on the atmosphere.) I interviewed students about their experiences with accessibility issues and found that the UW has a long way to go. I wrote over 2,200 words about food insecurity on campus, which wasn’t enough to thoroughly examine the issue any more than four articles were enough to examine accessibility. But it was joining The Daily’s editorial staff that really changed my life.

Andreas, you inspired me all

SENIOR GOODBYES

Science Editor Fall/Winter 18 Copy Editor Spring 19

year with your leadership skills and dedication to building up this newspaper. Thank you for taking a chance on me. Mira, thank you for encouraging me — first when I was a little dev writer taking on my first article for your wellness section, and again when I was a science editor trying to figure out how to encourage writers in my own section. You’re going to be a fantastic EIC. Sam and Trevor, you’re my heroes and two of my favorite people. Thank you both for taking me on as a copy editor. Diana, thank you for all your guidance and help, as well as the most delicious brownies in the world.

Emily, I’m so grateful to have had the chance to weather through all the highs and lows of summer quarter with you. Manisha, I admire your dedication to women’s health and to promoting stories that matter. Sierra and Cameron, you’re both my role models — Sierra for your cheerful can-do attitude, and Cameron for your ability to stay calm and collected no matter what.

Hailey, thanks for always being around to help, and I have no doubt you’ll go far between your stellar social media skills, incredible store of knowledge, and love of journalism.

Alyson and Charlotte, you’re two of the most chill people and the best dynamic duo I know, and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to share English classes and Sunday night productions with you both. Josh, thanks for always being a pleasant and dependable newsroom presence. Christine, I hope you continue to be bold and strong. Conor, the newsroom always feels like a better place when you’re around.

Devon, I honestly don’t understand how you slog through all those mounds of legal text, but you’re my favorite political news reporter. Charlie, it is my firm belief that you will one day have

great success as either the host of Saturday Night Live or an egg industry representative.

Niva, if you don’t become a journalist, I have no doubt that you’d kill it at professional poker, but please keep reporting for the sake of your outstanding journalism as well as your fellow players’ wallets. Taylor, Abby, and Jenna, you saved the day over and over again, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated that.

Madison, Diana D., Grace, and Kristin, it was a pleasure to share the near side of the copy desk with you.

Kellyn, you’re a champ in so many ways. Caean, if you’re reading this, thank you for sharing your humor and spontaneity with everyone in the newsroom. Sammi, I am so proud of your work with the science section this quarter. I can’t imagine a better person to take on the job.

Thank you also to The Daily’s 2017-18 editorial staff, particularly Alex, Timothy, Molly, Madelaine, and Rebecca. You helped me take my first steps as a journalist and encouraged me to grow beyond anything I’d imagined.

I want to give a shout out to everyone who wrote for me during summer, autumn, and winter quarters, especially those who helped me through the rougher moments. You all are awesome.

Thank you above all to Cristen, who encouraged me to apply for development before I knew anyone else at The Daily.

I found an aMazing community within these quote-vandalized walls.

I don’t know how I’m ever going to find another group of people, a place, a family like this. I can’t say enough how much it means to me to have been part of such a vibrant group of people.

Thank you for an incredible two years.

SENIOR GOODBYES

SUMMER 2019

THE DAILY

Kyle Gehler

By Kyle Gehler The Daily When I showed up to campus as a transfer, I was totally undecided about what I wanted to do.

Once I started working for The Daily, I immediately knew that I wanted to continue my career in journalism, but it goes beyond that. I apprehensively started out on the men’s and women’s tennis beats after my first two choices were unavailable. It was such a great experience to work on a beat and build those relationships in a situation where it was not as competitive as the major sports.

It was not my first choice, but I would not trade the experience for anything. It really helped me find my footing, both in the journalism field and at the UW as a whole.

This past year I was able to cover men’s basketball, something I

have dreamed about for nearly a decade. The opportunity it provided exceeded my wildest dreams.

The community aspect of Seattle basketball feature I did checked something off that I have wanted to do long before I stepped foot on campus. It turned out so much better than I expected.

To be part of the daily grind that comes with covering a basketball team was a phenomenal learning experience that will be crucial to my future in sports journalism. I still can’t believe that I was able to go to Columbus to cover the team in the NCAA Tournament.

The early days and late nights at the arena next to professionals that I looked up to is still a surreal memory. That was a moment in time that I won’t soon forget and will forever be thankful for.

I would like to thank Chris

Shahbaz Ahmed Kahn

By Shahbaz Ahmed Khan The Daily

I’m writing this in much the same way I’ve written most of my articles for The Daily: a giant valley of obligations behind me, an overwhelming mountain of work in front of me, desperately squeezing out words from the charred remains of my last two brain cells, all while running later than anybody would really like (sorry Copy) (and Design).

I joined The Daily because I wanted to be Superman. This is shocking, I know, but amidst the palpable desperation of 2016, there was something comfortable about being able to embody an indestructible champion of truth and justice. I figured if I could walk in Clark Kent’s shoes, not only would I get the writing experience I so desperately needed, but maybe I could also find my own place in the world.

In my three years at this paper, I never really stopped working myself to the bone. Whether as a contributing writer or a columnist or an illustrator or an editor, the sight of me walking into the newsroom

in the midst of some sort of crisis was as regular as rain in Seattle.

And while I certainly would’ve appreciated being able to sleep more than I did, I couldn’t have asked for a better crowd of people to pull me up and back on track.

I joined The Daily because I wanted to be Superman. I never could have imagined how much this paper and the people I met here would come to mean to me. I found

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Angkico who covered the beat alongside me and pushed me to be better. I would like to thank my first editor, Josh Kirshenbaum, who stuck with me when it took me awhile to find my footing and I was doubting myself on the basketball beat.

I would also like to thank Alec Dietz, Jordan Duncan, Hailey Robinson, Andy Yamashita and everyone else in the sports section and beyond it who welcomed me in and made me feel part of The Daily team and helped me improve as a journalist. The friendships I made in the newsroom will extend long after I leave Montlake. It was two years that I am forever grateful for and I am so thankful that I decided to shoot my shot and apply for it. I couldn’t imagine my time at the UW if I didn’t take that chance.

Development Spring 19 a home and a family within the walls of the newsroom, and though I’m sad to leave, I’m proud of the work I put in while I was here and excited of the things to come from all of you.

I love you all, and I’ll catch you on the flipside.

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SUMMER 2019

Chris Angkico

By Chris Angkico The Daily Before I joined The Daily at the end of my sophomore year, my college experience felt aimless. I can recall countless days during my first year and a half at the UW wondering and worrying about many things, the most pressing of these being: “What am I going to do here to make my college experience count for something?” The eventual answer to that question: joining The Daily.

I’ve thought about approaching this letter in a variety of different ways, and after deliberation, I’ve decided to talk about the keepsakes I’ve collected, the little moments I experienced, and the people that made my time at this great paper worthwhile.

People chart key events in their lives in different ways. As far as tracking my key events at The Daily, one of the ways I do that is press passes, and over the past two years, I have collected seven of them through various sports writing experiences. I keep them all in a cubby in my desk at home to remind myself of where I’ve been and what I’ve done. I remember the first one I got for covering men’s soccer was quite flimsy and initially didn’t have my name on it, but it and my two NCAA Tournament passes allowed me to get past security (almost) all the time and spend two great seasons getting to know the players and coaches.

The two men’s basketball press passes I have are a significant

upgrade, and let me tell you, those are sexy. They’re laminated, they got your name on them (the one I had this year has my picture on it), but most importantly they gave me the chance to sit in press row for two years and witness the rebirth of the program under Mike Hopkins and the effect it had on campus.

And this past fall, I got the chance to cover my first and only football game when UW took on Stanford, which comes with its own little press pass that gets you up to a big press box, and once you get up there you’re greeted by, among other things, an unlimited supply of food.

The amount of French Dips I had that night was off the charts.

On the arts side, the way I chart experiences is by remembering who I met at movie screenings. As a big film buff, I was incredibly surprised when I got the chance to meet and sit next to YouTube movie reviewer Jeremy Jahns for a screening of “The Upside” (and that he lived around here in the first place). At a screening of the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, I sat behind local radio personality Jose Bolanos, someone I actually got the chance to meet about a year and a half later through an internship.

I know these are pretty ancillary stories compared to what I was at all of these events to actually do, but for me those are the things I remember most. Many of the games I covered blend together, but what sticks out are the unplanned occurrences and the unexpected surprises, and without The Daily and the people

THE DAILY

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who work for it, I would have never had those amazing experiences.

Speaking of people, I’d like to thank everyone I had the pleasure of working with at this paper, starting with Josh Kirshenbaum and one of the best sports sections out there.

You guys gave me the chance to do so many things I’d always wanted to do in sports, and I could never thank you guys enough for everything you’ve done for me and the section at large in terms of turning it into the well-oiled machine it is now.

For my great experiences doing podcasting, I’d like to shout out my Box Seat Podcast co-hosts Alec Dietz and Andy Yamashita, my Culture Crew co-host Shelby Schumacher, as well as Christine McManigal and Grace Madigan, the podcast editors I’ve worked with that made the great shows I have been a part of possible.

Y’all are the best.

Lastly, I want to thank The Daily, as a paper, for everything.

For all of the friends I’ve made, for all of the people I’ve been able to interview, for introducing me to Google Docs, for all of the Papa John’s and brownies I ate at all-staff meetings, etc.

But most importantly, I want to thank The Daily for helping me find my voice, giving me a vehicle to pursue my passions, and helping me to believe in myself again. Like I said at the start, I came to the UW as an aimless wanderer, and now just over two years later, I can proudly say that working for the paper was the best choice I ever made in college, and always will be.

Niva Ashkenazi signs her desk on her last night as editor.

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SUMMER 2019 7

THE DAILY

Niva Ashkenazi

By Niva Ashkenazi The Daily When I first started at The Daily, I never imagined that I would get to this position.

I showed up in the newsroom the first couple times a timid and nervous reporter, too scared to directly approach any of the editors, much like I’m sure most of you were.

On top of this was also the general anxiety I felt about joining The Daily “too late,” still more or less clueless on the real purpose of The Daily. On the outside, it really seemed like no one on campus knew we existed.

So imagine my surprise when I was called upon to interview thenmayoral candidate Jenny Durkan because both Molly and Rebecca couldn’t make it.

I was incredibly apprehensive at first; I thought I was completely unequipped for the job. I was pretty stubborn and it took Molly a lot of pampering to finally convince me to go. I really didn’t think I could do it, but once I did, I realized how nearly impossible this job is when you do it alone. Since we are a newspaper completely run by students, as a reporter working alone I understandably felt like I was “faking it,” like I was training for a job rather than actually doing it.

I didn’t fully recognize the full potential of The Daily until I became news editor and encountered those high stakes moments that remind you that what you do actually has value, recognition, or is at least taken seriously.

I understood early on — and still believe — that our best stories are never just written by one “lone writer,” rather they’re the product of tireless and collaborative work among both reporters and editors.

In our newsroom, it’s not “I, and I alone can do it,” it’s “I couldn’t have done it without you.” This was truly the only way I felt I could actually do my job and it’s how I survived the snowmageddon breaking news coverage, published several bombshell stories for both the activism and homelessness editions, managed to still publish the Candace Faber story even after weeks of legal panics, and kept the news section itself running, all while maintaining my mental stability.

Manisha, I couldn’t have had

a better desk neighbor to work alongside me. You oriented me to my new position, contributed stories to the section, and consistently reminded me of my own easilyforgotten competence. I can’t believe you managed to do what you did as an editor during your junior year, I can’t wait to see what you do for The Daily in the next one.

Claudia, you were one of the best writers in my section, I don’t know how I would have survived without you, your badassery both intimidate and inspire me at the same time — use it carefully. You’ll make an amazing news editor.

Andreas, you were my rock, especially when we had to scramble breaking news together and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

You were aware of how The Daily was perceived as exclusionary from the outside, thank you for pushing against that and bringing new people in, it made the newsroom better.

Mira, it was such an honor to be considered “cool” by someone like you. I hope your senior thesis doesn’t consume you as you lead The Daily next year, and that your calming presence sets the tone for anyone who enters the newsroom.

Shahbaz, it was such a comfort having someone else from the writing center working in my cohort. You understood everything that has to do with writing and how to help others through the process, and to see you use that in the development class was inspiring and hope-instilling.

Joining the editorial team was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Though there’s nothing like the feeling of validation that I can, actually, do this job, much more rewarding was the ability to spend almost every day of my last year at the UW with people who are just as hardworking, passionate, and dedicated as I wanted to be. The Daily showed me what I was fully capable of achieving when I have a strong community of co-workers who wanted to see the paper succeed just as much as I did.

When I started out as news editor, I knew early on what type of section I wanted to cultivate. As a writing tutor, I quickly learned that the act of writing itself is not an act of “mere genius,” it’s a form of communication with a disembodied audience. When

News Editor Winter 18-19 you’re writing, you’re always trying to tell someone something, even when you don’t know who that someone actually is. As someone who has historically hated writing (and sometimes still do), this revelation took a while to finally set in, but once it did, I knew what my role was in my own section. No one story that I have written alone has given me as much joy as seeing my own influence in every story that a reporter has published in my section, to see my insights actually improve a story, to make a reporter’s writing process less painful, and especially less lonely.

As I’m about to graduate, and the UW is about to kick my ass out the door and into the deep, dark void, that is what I’m going to miss the most. The workforce is bound to be a lonely place at first, but once I find my footing I hope I will once again get the opportunity to foster a community such as the one that welcomed me into The Daily. All of the milestones we achieved together showed me what I still have to look forward to as a “professional,” and what I should be working toward in my hunt for the perfect (or at least the least soul-sucking) job.

As a kid, at the end of camp every summer, I never understood why all my friends always cried on the last day, as if they were never going to see each other again, even if they only lived a few hours away, only to come back the next summer and go through the same thing all over again. I only cried once, as a firstyear counselor. When I had to say goodbye to my first group of campers, after taking care of ten 6-year-olds for what couldn’t have been more than a week, I still cried like a lil’ b----, knowing that I’ll actually probably never see them again, and for a split second feeling the pangs of an empty-nester. I have a feeling the same is gonna be the case at this year’s Hurricane, except this time I’ll be leaving the nest, and the kids will be left to run the show instead. But, hopefully as a result of the work I’ve done throughout this year, at least I’ll know that the kids are all right.

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SUMMER 2019

THE DAILY

Aleenah Ansari A love letter to The Daily, which has changed me forever

By Aleenah Ansari The Daily

My time with The Daily, and at the UW as a whole, has been incredibly challenging, rewarding, frustrating, exhausting, grounding, and lifechanging. When my friend from early fall start forced me to apply for The Daily despite my lack of journalism experience, I remember sitting in development and thinking, I was never going to make it through the class to become a staff writer.

However, I pulled through thanks to my amazing editor (shout-out to Danielle!). When my first story was on the front page of the paper, I sent it to everyone and resisted the urge to say, “Hey, that’s me!” whenever I saw someone reading it on the bus or next to me in class. This is when I started to see myself as a storyteller, listener, and person of impact.

Four years later, it’s clear that The Daily was the only thing I committed to during the entirety of college. I spent most of my time at cultural performance showcases, conferences about breaking the glass ceiling as a woman in the

tech field, research talks about storing data in DNA, and events that focus on centering Native knowledge in education. But the more important moments didn’t talk place on stages. Whenever I got in the room with someone for an interview, they let me into their story: The way that they had never met a graduate student of color until college; Their legacy of supporting underrepresented students in STEM so they can enter the workforce; and the fact that seeing Desi performances on stage hits a special part of them.

More than feeling empowered by the people I meet, stories are a way for me to do a small act of good.

I remember being in the LSAMP Office and seeing an article tacked up on the wall with a familiar photo.

I rounded the corner and saw my story on Filipino Night posted up on their wall, two years after I had written. I realized that journalism is powerful because it allows people to see themselves represented in a larger story.

To the 300+ student leaders,

Shelby Schumacher

By Shelby Schumacher The Daily My journey to The Daily started not in college but in high school, though I didn’t know it at the time.

Going into my junior year, I made the decision to take journalism instead of jazz band, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Because of journalism, I’ve gained marketable skills, friendships, connections, and an immense amount of valuable life experiences.

I’ll never forget freezing my butt off in Pullman or lugging the 400 mm lens through the airport on my way to Los Angeles.

I’ll never forget joking around with my writers in the press boxes before games, laughing with the other photographers during breaks, or getting basketball updates during particularly long baseball

games from Andy Yashamita. Those memories, big and small, are some of the best parts of these last three years at the UW. Hopefully, one day, in however many years it takes me to find my way back to the newsroom, I’ll still be able to read the wall quotes I wrote because someone said something stupid.

Journalism has been a part of my life for so many years now; I don’t quite know what life will be like without having a newsroom to be a part of. It’s a funny feeling, this whole graduating thing. Some people tell you you’re leaving the best years of your life while others just constantly berate you with questions about what’s happening next.

But I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen in the future, which is slightly terrifying. Parents

SENIOR GOODBYES

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researchers, educators, performers, artists, and creators who have shared their story, culture, challenges, and struggles with me, thank you. To everyone who read my stories, asked me about the articles I was writing that week, or requested that I write about a story about their organization, you have brought so much joy into my life. I’m happy to report that I will continue to work as a writer at Microsoft. I feel like I’m living my dream, because I get to make a living out of hearing people’s stories. No matter how many review cycles or the amount of pushback from HR, I promise to advocate for authenticity and representation of people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and everyone who doesn’t get to see themselves in journalism publications. This is the end of an era, but certainly not the end of storytelling.

Photographer and teachers ask you when you’re little what you want to be when you grow up and now that graduation is just around the corner, I still don’t know what I want to be, or where I even want to find a job. However, in whatever place I find myself, I know that I’ll always be proud to say I was a part of The Daily.

SUMMER 2019 9

THE DAILY

Mitali Palekar

By Mitali Palekar The Daily As I grew up, I always dreamed about being an engineer. I loved science and math, and engineering just seemed the perfect combination of both. However, along the way, I discovered programming, the power of computer science and soon made a slight right turn to dreaming about being a computer scientist.

Everyone always says that college is about learning more about yourself and stepping outside your comfort zone. Joining The Daily was one of my “stepping outside my comfort zone” moments, as I felt a strong desire to get back into writing and take a break from my computer science classes. As I joined the development class my sophomore year, I learned about headlines, ledes and AP style, but more importantly how to be authentic and vulnerable in my writing.

The Daily has given me so much, in more ways than it knows. For one, it has opened my doors to the

world of writing. Here, I’ve been able to write about both the positives and negatives of engineering at the UW, from amazing initiatives such as the Pixel Project and the Allen School women’s research day, to harder truths such as surviving STEM majors at the UW. While I love computer science and software engineering (and that’s definitely want to do long term!), I’m excited to continue writing about technology, computer science, and my experiences going forward. There’s an immense need for the technology world to integrate with other parts of people’s lives and I’m excited to see where my writing takes me.

On the other hand, The Daily gave me space to bring my computer science and engineering skills to our newsroom. As the 2018-19 web editor, I was grateful to bring my technical knowledge to ensure that we were able to showcase all our content on the digital-first platform that we want to be. Even though I was just a small part of the entire publishing staff, I’m grateful for

Alyson Podesta

By Alyson Podesta The Daily The first time I learned of The Daily’s existence was at the Humanities Admitted Student Preview event, before I had even committed to attending the UW. I remember my mom being more excited to talk to the editors tabling there than I was.

She encouraged me to apply, but I was a little trepidatious, unsure if I would fit in as an English major rather than a journalism major (joke’s on me).

The second time I was reminded of The Daily’s existence was through the first good friend I made by myself in college, the wonderful Shahbaz Khan. Now, we sit on the editorial team as seniors together.

He was a development writer, and he encouraged me to apply to take the class next quarter. I am so glad that I did.

I’ve always known that I love writing and reading, but I didn’t really understand the term “writer” until I started writing on deadline, seeking out stories, talking to

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the three hours that I spent here every week.

Finally, as I graduate in less than two weeks, I’ve been reflecting a lot on how much this university has given me. This is my time to thank all the people, both at The Daily and beyond, whom have been played a part in pushing me to step outside my comfort zone and enabling me to discover myself every day. Thank you all the News, Science, and Special Section editors over the last three years for being receptive to my ideas and providing me a space to share my stories. Thank you to last year’s editorial staff for working with me as we debugged all sorts of technology issues (I might be a computer scientist, but who said technology was my best friend?).

And most importantly, thank you to my parents, family, mentors, and friends who have made my time here at the UW so meaningful and one that I’ll cherish for a long time to come — you all are the real ones.

Peace out, y’all!

Special Sections Editor 17-19

sources, and seeing my name in print. I think I’m still working on understanding what writing is and can be, but now, as someone who can get almost embarrassingly obsessed with the articles I work on, I am getting closer.

I’ve been able to stick my hands into so many fun and fascinating articles during my time as an editor here. I’ve worked on somewhere around 17 special editions, including six magazines for the Pacific Wave magazine supplement, a section which we started during my first year as an editor. I’ve grown as a writer and editor, but also as a conscious and critical consumer of media.

Thinking over my ten quarters on staff, I’m realizing that I somehow changed so much from my first article as a contributing writer to now, both as a writer and a person.

I learned to swallow pre-interview jitters more convincingly; I began to feel comfortable pitching to my editors; I applied for my major; I got paid for writing for the first time in my life; I applied to be an editor on a whim; I began to feel comfortable

pitching article ideas for entire editions to writers; I got bangs; I talked to many passionate writers; I actually endorsed the decision to put the words, “Do you masturbate? We do too!” on a cover; I spent probably hundreds of hours on an oddly endearing, decrepit green couch.

I’m thankful for the opportunities The Daily provided me in so many ways, and thinking about that orange newsroom now I feel overwhelmingly soft and squishy feelings about my time there (probably my own fault for listening to Beach House while writing this). The community of the newsroom is singular, and I’m lucky to have been a part of it for as long as I was. The lovely people I’ve met and gotten to know at our paper are special in ways I’m not even sure they understand — they care deeply about what they do, sometimes to an almost intimidating extent. That said, I’ve never met a funnier or more chaotic group of people — I truly cannot wait to see what things my Daily peers will create in the coming years. I am so grateful for my time here and at the UW.