Growing up with a bowl cut, I was always a rather quiet, awkward child who felt like his voice was never truly heard. In fact, throughout my entire life I have suffered from a rare condition that gives me diarrhea out of my mouth anytime I try to talk to other people. 

Oftentimes people are judged based on how well they can express their thoughts through speech or in social settings, a harsh reality that I have struggled to cope with for years. It always seemed like people were more likely to accept a terrible opinion from the loudest person in the room than anything that came out of a quiet person’s mouth.

If I was in a meeting and told people I had found a cure for cancer, everyone in the room would say, “That’s great, Chase, but the loud, obnoxious extrovert says they think drinking bleach might cure cancer, so we’re going with that.” 

Even if I wasn’t the sharpest crayon in the box, I always felt that I had at least some valid thoughts to contribute to the world, and it wasn’t until I came to college that I discovered the most effective way for me to express my thoughts was through writing. 

While I knew I was passionate about writing, I didn’t have a platform to share my ideas, nor did I particularly seek one until the summer before my senior year when I joined the Daily Utah Chronicle. For once, I had a platform where my voice was heard, and as such, one of my biggest regrets in college was not joining the Chronicle sooner.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit at the end of my sophomore year and canceled my favorite extracurricular activity at the time, being on the men’s club volleyball team, I focused my efforts during the next year and a half on perfecting my beer die skills to fill the void. 

While I still pride myself as being one of the best defensive beer die players in the nation, I knew that my time would be better spent on a hobby that I could actually put on my resume. I applied for a spot on the sports desk of the Chronicle and ended up landing a role covering the men’s and women’s hockey teams. 

Writing for the Chronicle quickly became my favorite of the many activities I did outside of school throughout college, including being in a fraternity, playing volleyball and even my brief stint working at a 7-Eleven, believe it or not. I put an immense amount of effort into the articles I wrote, and by the end of the semester, I had been promoted to Assistant Editor of the sports desk.

My new position as Assistant Editor came with the role of head reporter for the gymnastics team, and at my first press conference, I made a fool of myself with the questions I asked. At the very minimum, however, I did make the entire room laugh.

I knew gymnastics at Utah was big, but I didn’t quite realize just how much the gymnastics team meant to the school. I admittedly knew nothing about gymnastics when I was first assigned this beat, let alone the fact that our gymnastics team draws more fans than our basketball team.

At my first press conference, the other reporters in the room were asking questions using gymnastics terminology that sounded completely foreign to me, so I knew it was probably best if I didn’t speak.

“You guys are ranked fourth in the preseason poll, how disappointing is that for this group?” a reporter from Deseret News asked.

While I stayed quiet the rest of the press conference, I couldn’t help but interject here.

“Wait, isn’t being ranked fourth in the nation, like, a good thing? When I saw that, I was like okay, sweet, our team is good this year,” I asked the team.

Stunned by my question, the whole room was silent for a brief second before erupting in laughter.

“Yeah, it’s an honor being fourth, but we feel we’re capable of winning the national championship.” 

I went home and began to write my first article, only to find out that I had just interviewed Olympic silver-medalist Grace McCallum.

What started as nothing more than an extracurricular activity to keep me out of trouble and give me a platform to express my thoughts ultimately evolved into a leadership role for a storied newspaper, a partial scholarship and a job interviewing Olympic athletes. I am beyond thankful for my time at the Chronicle, and my final words of wisdom here are as follows: if you’re a quiet person, just know that there is a place out there where your voice can be heard, and take pride in the fact that you’re not loud and irritating.

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@Chase_Chat