Hello,
I'm Ellie.

Screen Shot 2023-12-11 at 9.19.36 PM.png

Screen Shot 2023-12-11 at 9.23.08 PM.png

About

About Me

My name is Ellie Symons, and I am the editor-in-chief of my school's award-winning newsmagazine, The Muse. On my publication, I produce my own writing content as well as plan the content for the website and print magazine. I also edit the writing of multiple writers, establishing close, constructive relationships with my staffers. Journalism is my passion, and I love cultivating that passion in myself and others.

Reporting & Writing

Down the Digital Rabbit Hole

Writing and reporting on this subject was an extremely interesting experience. When we distributed the quarterly survey for my publication, a large percentage of students said they had been politically affected by the internet. I was able to conduct interviews, both anonymously and and publicly in which people admitted to going down the alt-right pipeline. This is one of my favorite articles that I've written.

Remembering Mrs. Rose

I put together this quote collection after the death of one of the teachers at my school passed away. We interviewed some of her closest family and friends, which was difficult because of all the emotions they experienced. We wanted to include impactful quotes but had to tread lightly with interviewing those affected.

Getting Older, Younger

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this editorial because of how I was able to localize a topic seemingly irrelevant to teenagers back to our student body. At first, it was difficult to discover a call to action because the topic of this editorial was related to children growing up too fast, so many members of my editorial board thought there was no relation to us. However, once I discovered a clear angle I could take, I felt more comfortable writing.

Dreyfoos, Quit Complaining

This editorial centers around the privileges that my school offers. However, I did not know how serious this topic was until I began to interview people who had experienced other high schools and felt extremely upset that students had been complaining about our school when they felt we had it better here. This is a small group of students that had been through this change, however, I am glad I was able to represent their feelings, as this topic had never been covered at my school before.

The Community Beyond the Fest

Covering a music festival required careful planning so that I would not interfere with the performances. I wanted to take a unique angle and cover things beyond just who performed, so when I realized how much of a community aspect SunFest had, I knew I wanted to write about it.

2 Sides of the Court

I enjoyed writing this article because I was able to cover a story that involved both the students and teachers of our school. It was interesting to write about a sporting event, and I was thrilled at the opportunity to watch the game and interview the players afterward.

A Hate Letter to Public Love

I had such a fun time writing this article and using a strong humorous voice. This article required a combination of opinion and statistical information to prove my point. The response to this article was varied, but I liked the fact that people were interested in the topic enough to also develop strong ideas.

The Weight of the Name

Writing this article was a big deal for me considering how long it was and how serious the topic was. I wanted to objectively cover this topic but also convey how important it was, so I made sure to use a combination of quotes from students impacted and data. This is one of my favorite articles I have written because of the in-depth coverage and angle I took.

Top 2022 Horror Movies Ranked so You Know What to Watch — Even After Halloween

In order to complete this article I watched multiple horror movies. I was worried that this would give me nightmares or ruin the experience of watching these movies for me. It did neither, as looking through the lens of a critic made watching more enjoyable for me because I payed more attention. Immediately after watching the movies, I wrote how I felt about them so that I was able to remember how I felt when sitting down to write the actual review. I am grateful for this article because it allowed me to expand the number of genres I wrote.

Art, Music, and Love

This was an exciting opportunity for me because I was able to see Gwen Stefani perform. She was doing an amazing thing for my community, and it was beautiful to interview students from my school and hear how they felt.

Period Poverty

I was shocked when I discovered that some people on my campus did not have access to period products. I was even more shocked when I figured out this had never been covered. This topic interested me from a scientific and empathetic perspective.

In Defense of Powderpuff

When writing this article, I had a very strong opinion on the topic. However, powderpuff can be a very sensitive subject, so it was important to consider the feelings of everyone while writing this piece. This may be controversial, but I tried to use a strong voice and adapt my article according to the contributions of those affected.

Twirling Their Way to Higher HPAs

This article is important to me because this was the first full-length article I wrote that was published. When writing this article, I interviewed five people, including my school’s Dean of Dance. This was my first real experience with interviewing, and it was interesting to see multiple people’s perspectives on one topic. I also feel this article is important to me because it allowed me to experiment in writing about topics I did not have much knowledge of beforehand, which made it prudent for me to do my research beforehand and collect as much information from interviews as possible.

When Speech Meets Rhythm

I wrote this article about a slam poetry and speech and debate show at my school. This show discussed important topics, so I thought it was very important for me to cover.

BSU Block Party Spreads Culture and ‘70s Spirit

This article required careful observation of the scene and interviews while the party was occurring. To avoid making both the party and the interviews immensely awkward, I kept a fun and positive attitude and made sure to give extra thanks because I was interrupting their dancing. This was really important to me because writing this article helped me learn how to match the tone of a situation.

Editing, Leadership, & Teambuilding

Website and Social Media

SunFest Reel

My news magazine was given permission to cover SunFest, a local music festival, on the premise that we would post coverage before the event. We chose to use social media and adapt a “man-on-the-street” style for an Instagram Reel. I went with my staffer who filmed the video and helped him find sources when he didn’t know who to ask. Then, after another staffer edited the video and I approved, I wrote the caption.

Featured Work

Personal Narrative

In middle school, I had a strong interest in writing. I joined my school’s newspaper, The Portfolio. I did not write as frequently as I do in high school, but I appreciated my time on the publication. In 8th grade, two of my friends wrote a piece discussing the discrimination based on race that still happens in schools across America today. The administration saw the piece and chose to ban the entire issue that we had worked on for the past quarter. We were infuriated, especially after the principal and vice principal came to our class and began to yell at us for insinuating that racism could exist at our school. In a cry for help, I wrote an article discussing what the administration had done and posted it on my Instagram story. The document was sent to each other by students from my entire school and amassed almost a thousand readers. I was almost suspended for my actions until my journalism teacher brought a lawyer who specialized in student journalism in to talk to the administration. The original article was eventually published as well. This was the first time I realized that my power as a journalist is greater than my power as a person — providing the facts to a community and allowing them to form their own opinions is more effective than simply shouting your own.

In my sophomore year, I decided I would join my high school’s newspaper, The Muse. I was excited for this opportunity, but I did not know just how much this would impact me. My first story that year was about a new Dual Enrollment dance class. My school is an arts school, and most art majors had AP or AICE classes, which could boost the GPAs of the students who took them. However, before my sophomore year, dance majors at my school did not have any of those classes and were placed at a disadvantage because of it. I was glad to be able to cover this new development.

My first big assignment that year was an article about period poverty- a topic not frequently discussed due to the stigma surrounding menstrual cycles. I loved being able to investigate this problem on campus, but more importantly discover the efforts that on-campus initiatives were taking to tackle this issue.

I also covered how the prestige on colleges impacted students. I talked to many students for this article, and got to know them on a personal level. They described feelings of shame for not being able to attend prestigious universities. I felt the need to tell their stories and expose truths that prevent people from being proud of where they attend.

One of my best memories from the publication was the beginning of the sophomore year, when I was going through a hard time due to issues outside of school. However, I still had two articles due that night. In that time when I needed emotional support, the co-writer for one of those stories and my coverage editor both told me that I could talk to them if I needed to. I knew then that

The Muse, and journalism as a whole, would always be a source of comfort to me and a place I could call home.

Being a journalist has shaped me as a person. Throughout my year as a journalist, I was able to working on a high school publication, I have developed lifelong skills that some may only have the opportunity to learn as a working professional. The very journalistic process that I rely on as a writer has helped me learn to overcome difficulty. Interviewing sources taught me to listen to others- not just for advice or factual information, but to learn about their emotional experience, and to value this perspective. Writing stories has taught me that you can remain objective and logical when discussing a situation that may hold gravity and be a sensitive topic for both you and others. Receiving edits has helped me to overcome my fear of making mistakes, and instead embrace critiques, as they make the story better. And getting published and hearing people’s reactions to something I’ve written has helped me realize that we are able to impact people, inform them, and excite them with just something we wrote. However, that is not to say that journalism has not come with its challenges. I have had many late nights completing a first draft, times when I was stressed and did not want to focus on journalism, and lunches where I would’ve instead been chatting with my friends than conducting a serious interview. How am I able to get through it? Unlike other forms of schoolwork that I am assigned to complete, with journalism there is always a motivator, a light at the end of the tunnel. Knowing that a team of others who genuinely care about what is published gives me the motivation to push through and do the best job possible.

When I became the coverage editor of the news magazine, I started to edit for writers. I make a point to not only edit for them, but to mentor them. I try to never give up on my staffers, as I do not want them to lose their passion for writing. I try to thoroughly explain my edits to make sure that their writing improves in the future. I would like to inspire my staffers to care about the publication and journalism as a whole, just like I do. I hope to grow further in journalism and be even more involved with the publication in the future.