Personal Narrative
I’d always wanted to be heard, but my first assignment for the school newspaper made me realize I had no idea where to begin.
It all started when I would pinch myself to stay awake as my grandmother told me a bedtime story. I demanded a new story every night. New characters. New plot lines. New moral-of-the-stories (“Grandma, you already did ‘never follow strangers’ two nights ago!”).
By the time my grandmother’s stories reached their end, I began writing my own. Using the friction between a graphite tip and a sheet of cellulose fiber, I summoned my endless story ideas into the physical world. Every story deserved my undivided care. I rewrote plot twists until they reached maximum shock value. I fell in love with the art of storytelling.
In my freshman year, I discovered Ka Punahou—the school newspaper—through a club fair event. I saw that it would provide a platform for my writing, allowing me to share my stories with the world. I joined immediately.
The learning curve from creative and personal writing to journalism proved to be very steep. As a rookie writer, I struggled alone, relying on New York Times articles and YouTube tutorials to learn journalistic style; the first interview I ever conducted was filled with awkward silences and not nearly enough follow-up questions. However, as I kept writing, I fell in love with the process of discovering and sharing valuable perspectives. I challenged myself to write about unfamiliar topics from sports to cafeterias and school traditions. Beyond print, I explored broadcast journalism and produced a short video feature that aired on PBS.
Eager to grow my journalism experience, I searched for more opportunities outside of school. However, no local newspapers or magazines offered internships for high school students. I couldn’t find any mentorship programs or journalism camps either. I then realized how limited the support system was for student journalists in Hawai’i.
When I became editor-in-chief of my school newspaper, the issue became hard to ignore. Members were dropping out because the work was "too hard." Determined to support student journalism, I created the first interscholastic student committee of the Hawai’i Scholastic Journalism Association. As the lead organizer, I brought together 27 students from 7 different high schools and colleges at quarterly “Lunch and Journalism” events. Through my programming, student journalists built connections, discussed challenges, and brainstormed solutions.
As momentum grew, I helped revive a statewide journalism workshop halted by COVID called J-Day. Thirty students attended, some even traveling from Maui. Students worked in small groups with professional journalists and explored different journalism specialties.
Hearing the positive feedback from attendees, I saw how bringing journalists together nurtures a passion for journalism and builds community. This enthusiasm inspired me—and my staff writers—to continue contributing to our school paper. As I have developed from a confused freshman writer to an advocate for scholastic journalism, I’m proud that my organizing has strengthened the quality of student journalism across the islands and will empower future writers to share their stories, continuing my lifelong pursuit of storytelling.