This past year did not ….

This past year did not go according to plan. I think this is one thing that everyone can agree on. COVID-19 turned the entire world upside down and it’s impacted so many people across the world in so many ways, big and small. For me, it set back my career path goals.

When the pandemic hit, I had just changed my major from publishing to screenwriting. During the summer of 2020, I was supposed to get free housing in Los Angeles through an internship program through my school, Emerson College. As one can imagine, that got canceled and I returned home to work a job that wouldn’t help me prepare for the competitive world of the entertainment industry.

However, because of the pandemic, I ended up getting an internship here at The Star News, something that has taught me a lot of valuable lessons and given me experience that I didn’t know I needed.

When I first arrived at Emerson, I never thought I’d return one summer to work at the local newspaper. Journalism was something I never once thought about doing, yet here I am. When COVID-19 caused my school to go half-remote, I was left with not a lot of options in terms of extracurricular activities. At the time, my roommate was the living arts editor of my college’s student- run newspaper. She came to me with a story idea that she thought I’d be interested in. The pitch was a Q& A interview with an Emerson alum who created a new superhero for DC Comics. Thankfully, my roommate knew me well and knew that I was a really big superhero fan. I had actually changed my major to film adaptation because I specifically wanted to work with comics-based media, so of course I wanted to take on this story.

After I completed that story, my short-lived career in journalism started as I continued to write for the school paper with the encouragement of my roommate. My experience with the school newspaper really helped me gain confidence and refine my writing. While it wasn’t creative writing which is what I was studying, it helped me write on deadlines, make connections, and gave me a place to publish work that I have written.

Writing was still new to me as I haven’t had much experience with it yet. Many of the writing majors at my school knew they wanted to be writers from a younger age and had written their stories leading up to college. I, however, didn’t anticipate on being a writer at all. I actually never thought I’d pursue any sort of creative field.

While I had originally planned on staying in Boston for this summer, the circumstances of my financial situation didn’t allow for me to do so. I hadn’t worked at all during the 2020-2021 school year because the office I worked at was closed because of COVID-19, so I decided to focus on my coursework. When coming back home in May, I really didn’t want to go back to working a job just to make money as I was graduating at the end of the year and had almost no relevant experience in my field. Journalism isn’t in the film industry, but there are some overlaps in skills.

Besides working on my writing, this summer working at The Star News has given me a new appreciation for Medford and the surrounding area. While I loved my time in Boston and am very excited to move to Los Angeles, I’ve always appreciated my hometown. After all, it’s where I grew up to be the person I am today.

While I spent a majority of my life so far in Medford, I always felt that I didn’t really know Medford. I didn’t think about what charms the town had and what it could bring as a community. However, having attended a variety of school board meetings and talking with a number of different people, I’ve realized that there’s a large sense of community pride.

When I went to the Ice Age Trail to cover the building of a new bridge, I got to speak with a variety of people who explained why they loved the trail so much. Everyone seemed so passionate about their work and how they’ve helped create something that future generations will enjoy. They had asked me if I’ve ever hiked the trail before, but I had only ever been on the Ice Age Trail one time before in middle school for a volunteer event. How could I only live twenty minutes away from it, and never been on it properly? It made me look at things from a different perspective to actually see the beauty in the area, even though all the trees and such looked the same as just about every other forest I had been in.

I have been to Gilman more times this summer than I have in my entire life. I had no idea that they had a campground or an ice cream counter in the hardware store. I went to Jump River for the first time a few weeks ago because of working here and I learned that Mondeaux had four different campgrounds. It was very heartwarming to learn about all the different mental health resources Medford had, especially in the school. When I attended Medford, there wasn’t as much mental health awareness as there is now, which I think is an excellent thing. I feel like I’ve learned more about where I grew up this summer than I have growing up here, and for that, I’m very thankful.

As I prepare to finish college and enter the workforce, I will hold my time here at The Star News close to my heart. It was an excellent way to close this chapter of my life before going onto the next. I’m very thankful to everyone who works here for being so welcoming and giving me the opportunity to help me grow as a writer.