This summer I worked on a myriad of enterprise stories rooted in THE CITY’s commitment to reporting for New Yorkers.

As the monkeypox outbreak advanced in the city, I reported on the city and state health department's handling of the cases and vaccine rollouts. I developed a comprehensive guide for New Yorkers to navigate all of the information relating to monkeypox for THE CITY titled, “More Monkeypox Vaccines Are Coming to NYC. Should You Get Vaccinated — And How?” I also reported on an exclusive story on the LGBTQ+ Caucus of the city council’s introduction of a comprehensive legislative package to address the monkeypox outbreak, titled “City Council LGBTQ Caucus Calls for Action From Health Dept. With Monkeypox Bills. I interviewed experts, city council members, and city agencies to deliver accurate and timely information on the outbreak for my enterprise stories. My reporting on the early days of the monkeypox outbreak was very reminiscent of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020. I found it extremely important to serve my commitment as a journalist to record this historical moment while helping my readers stay informed.

During my time at Columbia Journalism School, I developed a deep understanding and passion for solid reporting. I knew what it meant to look for stories, find sources and sift through information. I applied this to my internship from day one, and I hit the ground running. My degree program prepared me for the days when it wasn’t so easy to find sources or get people to talk to me. I practiced this for ten months in my program so when I was faced with this during my internship, I knew immediately how to mitigate this very challenge. I knew that as a reporter, I couldn’t settle with thinking something was too hard or things weren’t working out for a story. I knew that when plan A seemed to not be working out, I had to start on plan B and start brainstorming a plan C. This allowed me to overcome obstacles I faced during my internship and find a way to always make things work. This is a lesson I know will stay with me throughout my reporting career.

As a relatively new political reporter, I sometimes found myself facing a bit of “imposter syndrome.” The political reporting space has decades (and in some cases centuries) of history and information that impact today’s politics. This context is super important when reporting on any political stories. As I am just starting in my career, I found myself as a novice in a lot of these conversations. I sometimes doubted myself and had to overcome my feelings of not belonging or feeling like an imposter. But as I progressed in my internship, I started to lean into this feeling instead of running away from him. I realized that political reporting, like anything in life, will take work. It's okay if I don’t know anything — I’m not supposed to. Instead, I should use this feeling of “not knowing” and push myself to be a stronger reporter so that I'm certain I’m considering all aspects of a story and including all historical contexts necessary.

My internship with THE CITY was an invaluable experience because it was my first in-person experience in a real newsroom. My biggest takeaway is the importance of solid reporting. Every single day, I was inspired by the talented reporters and editors who were passionate about the power of local reporting that matters. Each of them was committed to delivering important local stories that held people accountable and showed the impact on the lives of New Yorkers. Journalism is unlike any job because it is a service job that can help people by uncovering the truth. I do not take this job lightly and my internship at THE CITY really reinforced my passion for solid and thorough reporting. I want to challenge myself to be the best journalist that I can be, and pursue stories that may scare me but are important. As I progress in my reporting career, I will strive to deliver reporting that is rooted in some of the core journalism values that I learned at THE CITY.