Q1. Throughout your time on The Chronicle, you were a reporter for the sports department — starting as men’s soccer, cross country and men’s lacrosse beat and then climbing the ranks to football and basketball beat and section editor. What was your experience across those different positions?

A: As a freshman, covering the sports I either played or watched a lot of in high school was a natural and pretty low-stakes way to immerse myself in Duke sports and fill time. But I learned early on that I loved the writing part of it, especially the rush of producing on deadline and telling stories about subjects I found interesting with a lens and (at times irreverent) voice that felt authentic to me. Shifting to football and men’s basketball, and then to sports editor, was a pretty natural progression in that way, with the main difference being the amount and importance of stories I could tell, the chance to go across the country to report them and the number of people eager to read them. Whereas in soccer or lacrosse I was reporting on mostly home matches, my time on the football and basketball beats sent me as far as Oregon, Kansas and Arizona and as near as Duke-UNC games in Chapel Hill and March Madness in Raleigh. These experiences were once-in-a-lifetime for so many reasons, but what I loved about them all is actually how similar they felt to the experiences in soccer, cross country and lacrosse that drew me to sportswriting in the first place. I was helping Duke fans connect with their teams and communities on a deeper level in a way that felt authentic to me and my skills. That’s an opportunity I don’t know if I’ll get again, but it’s one I will forever be grateful for.

Q2. In 2024, you were selected as the recipient of the Blumenthal scholarship, named after late former Editor-in-Chief Karen Blumenthal who worked for The Dallas Morning News. What was it like to have the opportunity to work for a professional news organization as a college student? How did you both draw from your work at The Chronicle to inform your reporting at The Dallas News and what skills were you able to bring back to 301 Flowers? How have both experiences impacted your decision to pursue journalism post graduation?

A: I was surprised how alike the experiences felt, to be honest. I think that’s a huge credit to The Chronicle and how well it prepared me for the “real world,” so to speak. Even if places like Dallas are magnitudes bigger than Duke, the need for good stories, reliable information and effective journalism exists all the same. Coming into professional newsrooms with the chops to report, interview, write and sniff out stories I developed with Chron allowed me to step outside my comfort zone and try things I otherwise wouldn’t, be it a multi-thousand-word analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission earnings reports or a 20-minute sit-down interview with Kevin Costner. Being able to take the lessons I learned with The Chronicle and then translate them to other communities made me a more creative thinker and better journalist. It also helped me become a better mentor to younger writers once I got back to 301 Flowers because I could relay what my mentors in those newsrooms told me. Being able to live both the student and professional sides of the journalism coin have affirmed to me that I enjoy this craft no matter where I do it, and at 22 that’s a level of clarity I’m honestly surprised to have.

Q3. In 2025, you were also named the recipient of the Sclafani Award, dedicated to former Editor-in-Chief Matt Sclafani, who died of cancer during his term as editor and is remembered for his fierce reporting style. What does it mean for you to have received this award and how has Matt’s legacy impacted your reporting?

A: The thing that drew me most to Matt was how intrinsically he loved The Chronicle and how throughout his career he never stopped trying to improve it. Be it clear leadership, at-times tough but ultimately constructive feedback or, of course, fierce reporting, his undying passion for the paper and its success helped build it into the supportive, formidable entity it is now. I’m a byproduct of the culture he helped create and the example he set, which is why it meant so much to receive the award. Matt’s example, carried on through the editors that taught me how to be a journalist, encouraged me to be ambitious in how I approached every assignment. Sometimes that was extreme, like the specialty print issue we published a day after Duke football upset Clemson in 2023, but other times it was a necessary rework, like changing our feature content to be more regular, more personal and more vulnerable. In both cases, and countless others, I did everything I could to try and emulate Matt’s example and contribute to the community he helped build. I suppose I’m grateful for the award because it was validation that I did. 

Q4. How has your experience working for The Chronicle impacted your time at Duke?

A: Infinitely more ways than I have space for here, but I’ll put it into two buckets: social fulfillment and a sense of purpose. Stumbling into 301 Flowers my freshman year pulled me out of one of the deepest bouts of loneliness I’ve ever experienced, bringing an impostor-syndrome-affected, chronic-overthinking, deeply homesick 18-year-old a community of like-minded, compassionate, brilliant peers simply because we all loved sports and writing. Saturday afternoons, evenings and nights once occupied by myself became filled by college football watch parties in the office. Sundays grew into un-productive homework hours in front of NFL RedZone with friends, as did the rest of the week by crossword puzzles, MarioKart and football on the quad. All the while, I found a consistent creative outlet through writing, the chance for leadership through editing responsibilities and meaning through good journalism.

I started to, and ultimately do, love Duke because The Chronicle gave me a reason to. And it's because of The Chronicle that I look back at the last four years with immense pride — because of what I’ve been able to do, yes, but more importantly because of the relationships it inspired me to build, the meaning it helped me find and the happier, better version of myself it allowed me to become.