Opinion
Sharing my opinion with my audience challenges me to collect substantial evidence to convince my readers to fulfill my calls to action. Blogs bring me closer to my audience, and reviews allow me to think critically about the media I consume. I gained a love for editorials first through editing them in great depth, which provided me with a clearer understanding of how they should be structured to best influence readers, and have since emerged independently as a column writer of a sensitive issue in my district.
Illustration by Antonio Starks
Letter From
The Editor
November 2021
When the bus driver shortage in our school district worsened and began to affect working conditions and student learning, I was compelled to scratch my original idea for my “Letter from the Editor” column to take on this more relevant issue. I took a more nuanced approach to the issue -- I saw the way parents were reacting to the issue, and I wanted to bring attention to not only the severity of the shortage, but also the harm in how dialogue took place amongst community members.
Make America vote again
December 2018
Observing the need for more young people to vote in upcoming elections, I was inspired to research more about the voting habits, trends and motivators of young voters to make the case for the future of our country and call on high school students to take political action as they come into adulthood.
Superior Commentary
Georgia Scholastic Press Association
Photo by Kelly Fulford
Our Take
February 2020
Our staff’s “Our Take” provides an outlet for readers of our magazine to hear our program’s opinions as a whole. Any member of our Editorial Board may take this on, so by writing this, I helped the other members of our team prioritize editing and writing their own stories. I chose nostalgic piece in the midst of digital learning to remind the CCHS community of the positive atmosphere of our school, which also allowed me to regain my own sense of school pride.
Illustration by Lillian Sams
Review: Egypt Station
October 2018
This review of Paul McCartney’s album was my first exposure to opinion writing and my first piece published in ODYSSEY. I thought critically about all elements of the album and took diligent notes about what I found to be worth noting. I chose thoughtful diction to convey a creative tone and a strong sense of assurance in my opinion, as well as to convince people to listen to the album.
First Place Review
Southern Interscholastic Press Association
Photo fair use of variety.com
Photo fair use of pitchfork.com
Review: The New Abnormal
April 2020
In this album review, I described how The Strokes' new music connects to the state of the world during the pandemic. I took notes on the intricacies of the record’s tone, patterns, instrumentation and lyrics to compose a complex synthesis of the composition, make a point about the album’s duality and pose a unique connection to the bigger picture of COVID-19 that would inspire readers to listen to the album with that in mind.
Review:
Thunder Force
April 2021
This review allowed me to explore a more critical side of myself and explain why this movie didn’t live up to its potential. I enjoyed the process of finding the right words to describe these flaws, and it was satisfying to share this opinion with my audience to warn them of what they’re in for before watching the movie.
Photo fair use of Netflix.com
Photo fair use of Goodreads.com
Review:
"All The Pretty Things"
April 2020
My first book review was a unique experience from album reviews as it required a greater time commitment and further challenged my skills in making a concise and readable argument. My thoughts were not easy to streamline, but through outlines and revisions on my angle, I came up with an engaging and well-worded review just a few days after the book’s release.
Photo by Audrey Enghauser
Going public
September 2019
A pivotal experience of my life was transitioning from private to public school. Since the privilege of private school itself isn’t very relatable for the majority of my school, I focused on reflections such as how the transition between environments and finding a home at CCHS has affected me and the opportunities I have in public education, which gave the blog a relevant angle for my peers to connect to.