More Than Left-Brained: Meet the science geek behind Northwestern’s award-winning newspaper

Journalism at Northwestern University is known for its intensity, and outside the classroom students practice their skills at more than 30 different campus publications. Within the forefront of these is The Daily Northwestern, an independent newspaper and the only daily publication for both Northwestern and the Evanston community. The Daily is hardcore: It previously won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award, and its writers are frequently recognized for their individual articles. If you are on staff, it is expected that you live and breathe media.

But surprisingly, the publication’s current editor-in-chief, incoming senior Peter Kotecki, is not even a journalism major. Kotecki studies integrated science, yet his academic interests deviate from the left-brain stereotype. From science to writing to music, Kotecki’s diverse passions have all been critical to his success throughout college.

So why would an integrated science student spend hours and hours of his time running a newspaper? Kotecki discovered that his diverse passions require more similar skills than you might expect. Let’s start from the beginning.

A dedicated clarinet player, Kotecki initially applied to Northwestern because of the school’s esteemed program in the Bienen School of Music. But his college entrance essay did not focus only on performance — it explained how orchestra taught him important skills he can apply to other fields, including science.

The repetition required when practicing the clarinet made Kotecki patient and meticulous enough for lab work.

“Working with chemicals and being able to do the same experiments over and over requires patience,” Kotecki said. “And for you to have accurate experiments you can replicate and write papers on, you also need to pay attention to detail and make sure that you’re doing everything as accurately as possible.”

Kotecki got involved with The Daily at the beginning of his freshman year when he decided to put off joining a research lab. He was looking for something interesting that sounded different from his science-heavy classes.

Kotecki was the only person in his major who joined the staff.

“There is definitely a learning curve, figuring out how to interview people, how to structure stories,” Kotecki said. “I think what’s also tough is being in an environment where the majority of the people there are [journalism] students who very much want this to be their career and they know that from the beginning.”

But Kotecki liked working for The Daily, and he progressively became more and more involved. Covering campus news allowed him to stay updated on Northwestern happenings. He found the process of identifying the important information applied when creating a lab report and writing an article.

He said meticulous reporting is necessary for avoiding reporting holes, including interviews and comments from the right people, making sure to cover all bases and give voices to both sides and avoid omitting information that the public should know when reading a story.

“Making the right conclusions and picking out details definitely helps in reporting,” Kotecki said. “When you’re talking to someone for an hour you have to pick out the facts and how the interview was condensed.”

During his sophomore year Kotecki combined his scientific background with his new writing skills when reporting a longform story for The Daily. The story was about Lyrica: a popular prescription drug that was invented by a Northwestern chemistry professor. The story explored both the medical effects of the drug and the money it generated for the university.

Kotecki also stayed involved with The Daily because of the relationships he formed with other staff members. Although he is happy studying science, he does not have many friends within his major. The students on The Daily have become Kotecki’s friends and role models.

“The people that I met when I joined Greek life and when I joined The Daily — these things that I wasn’t sure about at first — ended up being the most meaningful to me,” Kotecki said. “And I think those then led to the most rewarding experiences.”

Kotecki plans to attend law school after he graduates with an undergraduate degree from Northwestern, and later to become a lawyer who works on scientific patents. Involving both science and writing, this career will allow Kotecki to indulge his various interests.

Madison Rossi is a journalist who writes about human culture and the people who change it. Check out what she and other ProMazo writers are doing to disrupt the current job recruiting model here, and follow her on LinkedIn and Medium.