A Look Back At My 3 Most Memorable Articles
This past summer, I spent a solid three days cooped up in my bedroom back home in Maryland, emerging only periodically to swipe some snacks from the kitchen. And while I’ll admit I spent a decent portion of time binge-watching Veep, I had assigned myself the hefty task of building a portfolio website on which to showcase my journalistic writing samples.
After years of articles and dozens upon dozens of bylines to my name, I thought it was finally time to put all my pieces in one place. At the same time, I was jarred into action by the realization that I’d be graduating in a little under a year and the fact that a personal website can improve employment prospects. Using my (very limited) computer and design skills, I created a site where I uploaded my resume, digital projects, and published articles organized by outlet and genre.
As I hunted through all my past stories, I was struck by many. Some because I didn’t even remember writing them until I reread them, others because they were embarrassingly mediocre to have been printed in the first place, and others still because they brought back a wave of nostalgia. My job as a journalist has brought me across the city of Los Angeles to film festivals, art galleries, and concerts. It’s allowed me to interview Grammy nominees and gotten me in trouble with Stuho property managers. I’ve been praised by strangers who are fans of my column, but also been told to “glob onto another issue if you feel compelled to join the gaggle of malcontents” by anonymous internet trolls. I’ve collected both friends and enemies, but have never failed to make great memories.
That’s why, this week, I wanted to share a few of my favorite pieces and recount my experiences reporting and writing them.
“Minding the Gap” Is A Touching, Masterful Coming-of-Age Tale
I was sent to an advance screening of the Hulu documentary “Minding the Gap” to write a last-minute review for the lifestyle section. The film — which explores the way skateboarding culture feeds into toxic masculinity for three young men — was being screened in the Paramount Pictures lot, on which I got hopelessly lost for 20 minutes prior to the start of the movie. I remember hurrying like a rabid squirrel through the lot until a public relations representative identified and redirected me. In the end, as it turned out, the PR team wanted the press to hold all reviews until the film’s official release in August. So much for that last-minute story! My editors had to procure another pitch out of thin air for the paper, but I was happy to have seen a brilliant film (no matter how difficult it was to find) and to have my deadline extended by two months.
Magic on Menlo: The Making of Moontower
For our Fall 2018 orientation issue, I sat down with the members of Moontower, an indie-electronic band comprised of three USC Thornton seniors. I interviewed them in their home on Menlo, surrounded by their neon fairy lights, vintage band posters, recording paraphernalia, and more instruments than I could count. Basically, there’s no cooler environment than the bedroom of a music major. The guys told me about their upbringings, how they got their starts in music, and their hopes for the future of the band. By the end of the hour, I knew that Jake’s dad drinks orange juice with every meal, that Tom drew inspiration for the band’s name from the cult classic “Dazed and Confused,” and that Devan played the flute in elementary school in a futile attempt to impress a girl. I especially love writing profiles like these, where I’m able to connect deeply with subjects and feel like we’ve been friends for years after interviewing them.
Universal Studios Hollywood Unveils New Holiday Attraction
Bear with me here because the nerd inside me is about to come out. Last fall, I begged my co-editor to let me miss a night of Daily Trojan production so I could accept a press invite to cover a new Christmastime attraction at Universal Studios’ Harry Potter World. With other members of the press, I was able to visit the theme park after hours, indulge in a Christmas-themed buffet, enjoy a private performance from the frog choir, and be among the first to watch a brand new light show projected on Hogwarts castle. It was only after I rode “Flight of the Hippogriff” three times in a row that I became too winded to geek out at every little thing. All in all, it was an incredible experience made even sweeter by the fact that I can forever tell people I went to Harry Potter World for free.
