Mary Lind - JOY Portfolio

Passionate. Informed. Dedicated.

 

     I walked into my Introduction to Journalism class on the first day of sophomore year thinking I knew what to expect. But all of a sudden, I was on the staff of a newspaper. A real newspaper, one run by real people, with real readers. The pressure was on, and I had no idea what I was getting into, completely unprepared me at all for the life that I began to live seemingly overnight. Even more so, I never could have anticipated how much I fell in love with it, and all of a sudden I was doing things I never dreamed I could do. I was constantly talking to people, be it an upperclassman, teacher, or even the principal–anybody that had a story to tell. I have gone on the air and read the news to my whole school. I was writing better than I ever had before and, for the first time, felt as though I was doing something that mattered.

    But while I was changing and growing and discovering who I could be, I was also realizing what the world already was. My fifteen year old eyes were opened that year to what the world was really like. That summer, right before my sophomore year, my family completely fell apart, and there was nothing that I could do about it. By the time school started, the country was also already knee-deep in the chaos that was the 2016 election cycle, and many, myself included, feared that that was the end of the United States as we knew it. The tension was high and it seemed as though things were falling apart across the globe and it seemed as though nobody could stop it. I felt completely powerless.

    Journalism gave me the power that I never knew I could have. We were told from day one that the power of our pen was something that nobody could take away from us. We were told that it was more powerful than we knew, and that we could use it to create change. For years I had always thought that journalism was nothing more than telling a story, in its simplest form, in order to convey the information. And technically, I wasn’t wrong.  Journalists do tell stories, and they do convey information. But we tell stories that are meaningful. We seek the truth in order to illuminate the often dim image that is our reality. We tell stories that make people feel things and want to celebrate or cry or make a change or all of the above. And in my experience so far I have been able to do that. During my sophomore year I wrote an investigative piece into the web filters at my school, which were denying access to valuable resources for LGBTQ students. Those restrictions were then lifted. Last year I profiled a kindergarten class and brought some of their happiness to Lincoln High School. This year, I have written pieces about the landmark renovation that our school is about to see and the devastation that mass shootings have brought this country. I am incredibly proud of what I have produced over the past several years, and of all of the long hours and hard work that went into it.

 

    As I have been looking back on these last three years that I call my career, I have realized that, even from my very early childhood,  journalism has always been my calling. While I've only been working on the staff of The Lion's Roar since my sophomore year, I have always been a storyteller. And I've always been a news hound. I can recall from a very young age reading newspapers such as The Valley Breeze and The Providence Journal and wanting to write like that, or seeing broadcasters on NBC 10 and thinking I wanted to be like that. In fact, when I was around eight or nine, I tried to produce a daily newspaper for my family using a pencil and some computer paper. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t last very long; running for just one issue, I believe. At sleepovers, my friends and I would make "newscasts" on one of our parent's digital cameras, holding hairbrushes as microphones.

    From my very first day on staff, I have thrown myself into the crazy life of a journalist that I was destined to live. And I haven’t stopped since. That first day, writing furiously in my notebook, I fired question after question at the poor girl I had been assigned to write a feature on, hoping that I would be able to put together something coherent enough to submit. I wrote it up, sent it off, and moved on to the next piece; and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that my profile had been published. I kept writing and working the entire year, working on news, editorials, investigative pieces, you name it. The following year I was promoted to Associate Editor, and this year to  co-Editor-in-Chief. These are responsibilities that I don’t take lightly. Most mornings before school I will come in to work on the newspaper or finish up a video or story that I've been working on, and every afternoon I stay after school to do the same. I work every morning during Advisory with several other students to do a live broadcast of the morning announcements on our closed-circuit TV channel, WLHS TV Channel 81. I help run our social media accounts and I am the manager of our website. Even beyond the school day, I keep going. It’s a rare day that I am not tweeting about an event, writing, filming, or brainstorming at home.

    This passion and dedication have defined my high school experience. It has led me to some incredible opportunities. Last summer, I had the honor of being named as the Al Neuharth Free Spirit & Journalism Scholar for the state of Rhode Island, which sent me to Washington, D.C. for a week with other student journalists from across the country to see professionals in action and to inspire us to be the best that we can be. I have gotten to interview amazing people and work with some of the most talented and kind people I have ever met, and formed friendships that will last a lifetime. Working on the staff of The Lion’s Roar is the most fun I’ve ever had. And it has inspired me to create change in this world, and to seek the truth wherever I go.

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     In this portfolio you will see a selection of my best work as a journalist. I have included submissions in each of the eleven categories recognized by the JEA for this contest. Thank you for taking the time to look at my portfolio. It is the product of years of long hours and hard work, and I couldn't be prouder of it.