Looking back on the past three and half years I’ve been involved in journalism, there are too many aspects of my life that have been intertwined with either Nighthawk News or the lessons I’ve learned since joining the publications program to count.
During my junior year, I conducted an in-depth interview with a varsity soccer player about how his rare bone disease had impacted him both physically and mentally. He had never opened up about the experience and the story-writing process not only gave him a platform to release all of his pent-up frustration, sadness and triumph, but it allowed us to become close friends. Less than a year later, that same soccer player confided in me about his severe depression – something not even his family members knew about – and I became one of his biggest supporters. Since then he has begun counseling and now has an easier time expressing what is on his mind. If it weren’t for that one feature story in November of 2016, there’s a chance he never would have told anyone.
While writing about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in October of this year, I realized not only how privileged I was, but how many opportunities many of my classmates would never have access to – specifically, an affordable college education as a young undocumented immigrant. As president of my school’s National Honor Society I organized a local scholarship for DACA students as our school-wide service project. With only two fundraisers complete, we’re only a few hundred dollars short of our goal of $2,000, and I have plans to exceed that goal by May. If it weren’t for the October edition of Nighthawk News Magazine, that scholarship would be nonexistent.
On Jan. 20, 2018, I attended the Women’s Rally on Raleigh. I felt so empowered by the event that while on the way home in the passenger seat of my best friend’s car I wrote about my experience. Not only did I express how deeply the event had impacted me, but I told the story of a similar experience I had a year before but at an anti-Trump rally in Indianapolis. That experience was far different. Although I was moved by the event, when I returned home I felt the backlash from my peers and ultimately resolved to keep quiet about my participation. Looking back on my actions, I realized I had made the wrong choice – I should have used my voice to stand up for myself and others who did not have a voice. I channeled that reflection into my writing about the women’s rally and posted the commentary on NighthawkNews.com. The story was received with an overwhelming amount of support from my peers and community. If Nighthawk News didn’t give me a platform to use my voice, I never would have vowed to stand up for myself.
After learning that a fellow dancer at my dance studio was the cousin of an 18-year-old girl who was shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, I expressed my concerns for my own safety in school through an opinion piece for NighthawkNews.com. Writing that story allowed me to sit down and really think about the epidemic of gun violence in America and prompted me to form an educated, well-versed opinion about the issue. I realized that the foolish yet comforting phrase “that could never happen here” was no longer viable. Two days after the story was published, I began organizing a walkout at my school. Over 600 students chose to walk out on March 14 to honor the victims of the shooting and to advocate against gun violence in schools. At the walkout, three of my peers and I gave brief speeches regarding our thoughts on Parkland. If Nighthawk News didn’t give me a platform to use my voice to speak out against gun violence, I never would have organized an event that gave others a voice as well.
Arabella Saunders 