ONWARD STATE

what I did:

In November of 2008, Onward State, an independent student-run publication written by Penn State University students was born. At the time, I was a senior in high school who was introduced to the site from classmates of mine. I knew I wanted to go to Penn State prior to reading the site, and knew that when I transferred to University Park from the Commonwealth Campus I had applied to, I wanted to write for the site. I've watched the site grow over the years, from a small, independent, snark-based blog, to an independent large-scale outlet that reports news by students of Penn State. In the summer of 2011, right before I started my junior year at University Park, I applied to write for Onward State, and remained there for my final two years as a Penn State student. 

As a staff writer, I covered a broad range of stories, from "fluff" pieces to campus happenings. I became a part-time sports reporter, where I covered the Penn State Fencing team. I wrote many entertainment pieces, ranging from concert previews to concert reviews, as well as musicals and comedy acts that performed on-campus. Stories about THON, a 46-hour dance marathon benefitting the Four Diamonds Fund at Hershey Medical Center were another hit for me. I was able to share with the world the inner happenings of what was going on in the Bryce Jordan Center during THON weekends. I also acted as a fashion reporter for the site, taking on the role of the "Natty Nittany," where I would take pictures of fashionable people around campus. Like many of the students on staff, I took on a role as an interviewer, using a "Ten Questions With..." format to talk to Olympians, notable students and University administrators. I also took on the role as a minor tech writer, producing content about eLion and ANGEL, two software systems Penn State students used for classes and scheduling.

Little did I know that the 2011-2012 academic school year was going to be a big year for the site, and introduce me to the world of major news stories unfolding before my eyes as a student. In November, the child sex abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky broke. I wrote about several stories related to the Sandusky Scandal, featuring reactions from the State College community in the wake of the scandal, efforts by students to form a "Blue Out" to bring awareness to child sexual abuse, as well as news about The Second Mile charity, founded by Sandusky. On January 21, 2012, Onward State erroneously reported that Joe Paterno, former football coach of The Nittany Lions, had died. That story spread like wildfire, and I watched it unfold in real-time over social media, and across the site's Yammer page (used as a "virtual newsroom"). That alone taught me an important lesson about ethics, and coincided with the ethics class I was taking at the time. It wasn't an easy story to witness, but was an important lesson that I will never forget.

My Work:

2011:

2012:

2013: