MY STORY:

• The University of Utah and COVID-19 

MY BLOG:

The biggest part of everyone’s lives in 2020 has been dealing with and working around COVID-19 so I figured it would be a good talking point in regard to the University of Utah as a whole. Before setting up the interviews, I decided to look for professors and instructors at the U with differing levels of experience and also different job titles to get a wide spectrum of people to comment on the topic. They were the best sources because they were all very interesting people with different backgrounds working for the same cause at the U. 

My only obstacle was a last second story switch, but it worked out in the end and I found a good topic to write about. I was planning on writing about the basketball scene in Seattle and what would need to happen in order for Seattle to get an NBA team again. Sadly, this story didn’t get any traction, so I decided to switch to the University of Utah’s handling of COVID-19. This switch proved later to be the right choice. I don’t think the pandemic posed any problems considering my story was about the pandemic. 

I made sense of all the information by taking notes and reading through the notes. I decided my focus by running through different possibilities in my head. The writing process went smoothly for me because I carefully planned it out beforehand. I learned my writing style when incorporating an interview, something I had never done before this story. The formation of interviews, the actual interviews and the writing process all took place in one week due to a last second story switch. 

All three of the people I interviewed said that they didn’t feel that the U’s job handling coronavirus affected the Salt Lake Valley. I was expecting the opposite answer from all three. I had a great time writing this story and interviewing the people I did. I also learned a valuable lesson from this assignment. I learned that a lack of progress is not a reason to quit, but it may be a sign to make changes that will allow progress to continue.

ABOUT ME: 

I am an 18-year-old student at the University of Utah, and I am originally from Seattle. I am studying communication with a focus in journalism and I aspire to be a sports analyst or a sportswriter. My hobbies include basketball, going to the gym, hiking, writing and being with friends and family. I hope to be able to give back one day and to also be a famous name in the sports world.