As outlined earlier, the goal of The Flash is to give voice to the voiceless. This can be achieved in numerous different ways. We can tell a number of different stories about a million different people. In class, we often discuss how we find who we interview. For something like a campus question, we go from study hall to find students. For specific stories though, our options are limited to who we know. We struggle through this, and I am no exception. Last year, a colleague and I were working on a story about cosplay and tried to look for people to interview. We struggled until they found one of their friends was a cosplayer. So the story was about a friend. I try to avoid this problem now and believe that it must start with the root of the story.
The people we choose to showcase on The Flash are a reflection of who we see in the school. I have tried to tell stories that go beyond my inner circle, or friends of friends. Beyond our classroom lies over 2 thousand students with over two thousand different backgrounds. As a student journalist, I try my hardest to display this in every story I tell. But there's no story that displays it like The Desk and Unified Phy-Ed.
The people we choose to showcase on The Flash are a reflection of who we see in the school. I have tried to tell stories that go beyond my inner circle, or friends of friends. Beyond our classroom lies over 2 thousand students with over two thousand different backgrounds. As a student journalist, I try my hardest to display this in every story I tell. But there's no story that displays it like The Desk and Unified Phy-Ed.
The Desk
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The Desk is a story that demonstrates the beauty of our community. By selecting a desk in an English classroom, I had the chance to pull people from all different backgrounds, the only thing that tied them was Eastview. And the results show this. I talked to six different students, 3 juniors and 3 seniors. 2 boys and 4 girls. 3 white students and 3 students of color. Students involved in theater, speech, basketball, art, and nothing in Eastview. Picked at random from the school. This project was a beautiful presentation of who Eastview is. We got to let the students have their moment in the spotlight. When my advisor asked me what my focus statement of the story was I told him it was the focus of the class, to give voice to the voiceless. I feel this story embodies this idea. It's an idea that grew to represent Eastview.
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Unified Phy Ed
In my first story, made in September 2021, I talked to students in a class that works to unite students. Unified Phy Ed was the first story I created, and it showcased a small group of students who get the opportunity to spend an hour of their day with the special needs students inside our school. I didn’t personally know anyone involved, but throughout the story, I had the opportunity to build close bonds.
One student I interviewed, Ryan, was a senior. I talked to him about what it meant to be in what was just a gym class to him. He was blown away by the camera equipment and how it all worked. Our interview was such an amazing experience for both of us. It was the first time I had ever done anything of this nature, I hadn’t even prepared interview questions. I was so nervous, to stand behind the camera, but Ryan was a sweetheart. He made the whole thing very impactful, so when I left I told him to watch for himself on the show the following week.
So the episode airs, and I went on making other stories throughout the year. This is how it normally goes, I move on with work without much thought of that story. One day, probably in March, I went to the nurse because I had felt sick. As I got my pass to leave the building, someone walked in. Ryan smiles at me. He was so excited to see me and reminded me of when I interviewed him. I walked out of the nurse's office and changed. This one, ten-minute encounter had brightened up his life in so many different ways. I knew after this my purpose was to tell stories of those who were mostly ignored by our normal lives.
One student I interviewed, Ryan, was a senior. I talked to him about what it meant to be in what was just a gym class to him. He was blown away by the camera equipment and how it all worked. Our interview was such an amazing experience for both of us. It was the first time I had ever done anything of this nature, I hadn’t even prepared interview questions. I was so nervous, to stand behind the camera, but Ryan was a sweetheart. He made the whole thing very impactful, so when I left I told him to watch for himself on the show the following week.
So the episode airs, and I went on making other stories throughout the year. This is how it normally goes, I move on with work without much thought of that story. One day, probably in March, I went to the nurse because I had felt sick. As I got my pass to leave the building, someone walked in. Ryan smiles at me. He was so excited to see me and reminded me of when I interviewed him. I walked out of the nurse's office and changed. This one, ten-minute encounter had brightened up his life in so many different ways. I knew after this my purpose was to tell stories of those who were mostly ignored by our normal lives.
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Ava Granger was an exceptional human whom I had the honor of knowing. She was a bright spot in the flash. While working on this story, I had the honor of filming her. When the story was first brought up, she was so excited to think that we could do anything like this. Her interview is so important and meaningful. She lit up the story, her smile was contagious. Ava Granger would end up passing away later in the year. It was a tragedy that struck me to the bone. I had only known her for a couple of months, but I was still touched by her. She was a bright spot in all of our lives and benefited the flash for the better. The footage I had collected of her shows her spirit, and how much brightness she had. Everyday with her was precious, and if it were not for the cameras, I wouldn’t have the videos to look back on.
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Throughout my short career on the flash, I have presented people and stories normally hidden from our daily lives. Because when we showcase the different, we all benefit. Ryan and Ava got their time in the spotlight, and every student in the school was exposed to this unique class. I got to take it the following year and now get to first-hand experience it myself. I see how important this class is, and I know that I wouldn’t have taken it without The Flash and the spotlight it provides. In this, I feel as though I have worked to provide a voice to the voiceless, and not just say I do.