On a warm May afternoon, over a thousand people filled the steps of Utah’s Capitol Hill, protesting a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade.
It was the first protest I covered (and a large one at that), and I felt nervous about writing an article about it within a couple of hours. I knew the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a historic piece of news to cover, and I wanted to get it right. Luckily, a fellow news reporter, Carlene Coombs, attended the rally with me and promised to help me write the story.
After the protest ended, Carlene and I made the 2-mile trek back to Capitol Hill. We got to talking about our summer plans, and she told me she was going to be the news editor for the upcoming school year. I was impressed. I congratulated her, of course, but the thought of being an editor made my head spin.
“I could never be an editor,” I said.
I was coming off a rough freshman year of college and could not fathom the idea of being in charge of anyone but myself.
Life doesn’t always go the way you anticipate, though, and it’s naive to assume it will. The version of myself that existed in May 2022 would be shocked to know I am The Daily Utah Chronicle’s editor-in-chief.
I’ve spent three and a half years working for the Chrony, and I’m incredibly grateful for all the lessons I learned, the doors that have been opened for my professional career and for the relationships I built along the way. But maybe the biggest thing I’ve learned is this: there’s beauty in striving for perfection — even if you never reach it.
I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist, but let me tell you, being an editor forced me to let go of those smooth sailing ideations.
When I became the assistant news editor in 2023, there was a lot that didn’t go my way. I faced an unprecedented situation that almost led me to quit. Fortunately, I had a compassionate news editor and friend, Caelan Roberts, by my side, who reminded me to take it easy on myself, and most importantly, to not burn out.
As editor-in-chief, I had the idealistic goal of a perfect tenure: no drama, no delays, no backlash.
Stories were published late. Sources threatened to sue. And people didn’t listen to me. Most of my time as editor-in-chief was spent wondering how I could improve the paper: what could I be doing better? What was the next best opportunity I could give to my team? How could our content be better? Instead of focusing on all the good work we were doing, I was constantly trying to be one step ahead.
Another mentor of mine, Andrew Christiansen, who was the online managing editor in the 2023-24 school year, challenged me to accept that I couldn’t be perfect, no matter how hard I tried. He insisted that the work I had done not just as editor-in-chief, but as a news writer and an assistant news editor was incredibly valuable.
He was right. And while I know my perfectionism is part of why I’m such a good editor, I wish I had embraced my shortcomings sooner. During my time at the Chrony, I witnessed the evolution of all our writing desks, visual departments and audio production, and I couldn’t be more proud of all the work my team has done this year.
As I entered my senior year and was suddenly in charge of a staff of over 80 people, I found myself at another protest.
On-campus groups had been protesting the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7, 2023. In May 2024, institutions of higher education were seeing students protesting and setting up encampments demanding their universities divest from Israel.
On the eve of my first day as editor-in-chief, students, community organizers and faculty protested at the University of Utah’s campus and set up an encampment — prompting a heavy police response and the arrest of more than a dozen individuals.
This time, I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t afraid to walk into the crowd and ask questions. I wasn’t nervous about the quality of my reporting. And I was ready to mentor new reporters who wanted a taste of the action. All of my experience at the Chrony and my other internships had prepared me for this moment.
I doubt the finished article I co-wrote with this year’s news editor Josi Hinds was perfect, but the reporting was solid and the story was told.
Journalism isn’t about writing the perfect story. Storytelling is messy. The best stories written are the ones with your blood, sweat and tears on the page. They’ve gone through half a dozen revisions — and even then, you know they could still be better. I’ll never have the perfect story, because I believe there’s always room for improvement, but there’s pride in my progress and beauty in the fact I’m still trying.
