Midway news editor Taariq Ahmed, a senior, has been selected as one of two runners-up for the Illinois Journalist of the Year sponsored by the Illinois Journalism Education Association.
Taariq was not involved in the production of this story.
Submissions were held in February and the award winners were announced in early March.
In order to submit, applicants had to put together a portfolio filled with a short essay, work the student has done for their newspaper and awards received. Applicants also had to submit the process of how they created a story, with interviews and other notes.
“I am inspired when people inform me that a story of mine resonated with them, or it simply educated them on something new,” Taariq wrote in his portfolio. “This is what motivates me to do journalism and what has sparked my interest in pursuing a future in this field: helping people and the community which I serve.”
Taariq used this process of putting together the portfolio to reflect on journalistic work he has done in the past four years both at U-High and at a high school near St. Louis, where he attended ninth grade before coming to U-High.
Taariq said, “I reflected a lot on old stories and how I’ve grown as a journalist and everyone I have worked with.”
With this reflection, Taariq is motivated to keep moving forward in journalism. He plans to study journalism at Northwestern University next year.
