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Mom and Dad and Sister and Frère
My sister studies in Paris. I write opinion columns for the student newspaper. On November 13, 2015, I was wondering what to write about. That obviously changed as the news trickled in. I emailed my sister for her story and called my mom, who told me about how she lived in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square massacre. I ended up drawing parallels between the stories of my two female relatives (something about inter-generational, trans-continental trauma, I dunno), along with working through my own feelings of guilt and confusion. It was a hard piece to write. |
Under the Skin
One Penn State professor unmasks the role genetics play in human faces Longform science piece about Penn State anthropology professor Mark Shriver. He's interested in the genetic markers that control facial appearance. I visited Shriver's lab, read several academic papers, and interviewed a professor out in Colorado who disagreed with Shriver's findings. This was the first in-depth, longform article I ever wrote — it took about three weeks, from pitching the story to publication — and despite some minor quibbles, I'm still quite proud of it. |
Historical Boogersburg school transports kids to 19th century
An example of day-to-day, local reportage. Every year the historical society in Centre County holds an open house at a 19th century school (with an unfortunate name), where volunteers dress up in period clothing and demonstrate what life was like in the olden days. I emailed the coordinators of the event, biked to the event itself, listened to the presentations, and interviewed the volunteers and attendees. One of the people I interviewed attended the school in the 1930s, and every couple of years he still visits the open house. I guess it goes to show that there are interesting stories wherever you look. |
Watching ‘Happy Valley’ in Happy Valley
Review of Amir Bar-Lev's documentary "Happy Valley" about the fallout of the Sandusky scandal. This is the only thing I ever wrote that directly dealt with the child abuse case. I was a junior in high school when everything went down, and by the time I arrived at Penn State there was a general sense of exhaustion about the topic. So for me, watching the film was educational, but it also laid bare how deeply wounded the State College community still is. People were yelling at the screen, stuff like "shoot him" or "hang him" when Sandusky appeared on screen. There was an anger that I never felt before in a movie theater. |