The Miami Student

Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Newspaper Writer

2017 - 2021

Established in 1826, TMS is the oldest college newspaper west of the Alleghenies. My work at TMS involved writing and editing long-form creative nonfiction stories for the magazine. I also contributed a variety of stories for the newspaper's news, culture, opinion and audio sections.

Letter from the editor: TMSM's Spring 2020 issue, Disruption

Dear reader, There is a before and after to what we are living through. This spring, the novel coronavirus has deepened old problems and created...

April 28, 2020

“OxVegas forever” group chat buoys 150+ students through quarantine

Four days after classes went online, an unofficial Miami GroupMe chat with 156 members and counting was born. Here are some out-of-context highlights from the...

April 14, 2020

Volunteer delivery props up Oxford’s grocery fixtures

Photo from Miami University’s ShareFest this spring Oxford’s sources for local or free groceries are turning into grocery delivery services to eliminate coronavirus contact points....

April 7, 2020

Students slow it down in t’ai chi

Fifteen students move as if their limbs are cutting through water in front of the mirror of the Phillips Hall dance studio. Controlled, slow movements...

February 25, 2020

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Former Kosovo president wants gender equity and you to visit sometime

Atifete Jahjaga, former Republic of Kosovo president, described her career path in male-dominated, post-war fields that led to her 2011-2016 presidency in a talk on...

November 24, 2019

Disconnected: Experiencing loss from miles away and generations apart

Charles Mullenix noticed he had missed calls just as his phone died. From his dad. From his mom. From his girlfriend, Grace Hiddleston, who was...

November 20, 2019

Close encounters of a Starbucks kind

In the spirit of the daily understaffed chaos witnessed in the campus Starbucks’ this year, here’s a look back at the former Starbucks attached to...

October 29, 2019

Oxford pantry inches toward $1M finish line with donations from Greek 5K

The race started not with a bang, but with a classic “On your marks, get set, go!” from junior Claire Drew, Panhellenic Council’s vice president...

October 22, 2019

Kosovo. "Where is that?"*

The country was a big, black box of uncertainty to my family and friends before I landed in the capital city of Pristina last May....

September 25, 2019

Artist’s talk shines light on A-bomb history

Migiwa Orimo spends a lot of her time wading through censored government documents and digging into yellowed archives for her art projects. The artist navigates...

August 10, 2019

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Real-life fairy godmothers

Oxford, OHIO, UNITED STATES—A student once approached Vonda Reynolds with an odd question: Did Vonda want a cat? “No,” Vonda said, confused, and continued cleaning...

December 4, 2018

And Marie Antoinette said, "let them go vote!"

OPINION COLUMN originally published in The Miami Student newspaper — Leading up to Election Day on Nov. 6, students received plenty of encouragement to perform...

November 20, 2018

A Medieval Club in No Man's Land

Oxford, OHIO, USA—First-year Daniel Melson wanted to join something he, “could only do in college.” When he followed the sound of a lute into a...

November 13, 2018

Ask me "Are you sure?" again, I dare you

OPINION PIECE for The Miami Student newspaper It’s hard to forget that taekwondo wasn’t created with women in mind. Even 100 years after the creation...

November 6, 2018

People are finally talking about the Elephants in the Room

Oxford, OHIO, USA—Within a week of popping the question, “Hey, wanna start a band?” a group of people who knew each other from church and...

September 18, 2018

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Nowhere to turn

Originally published in The Miami Student Magazine Ying tells stories in a thin, nonchalant voice. Like when she mentions that on a near-constant basis, professors...

May 1, 2018

Central Park Five member speaks on institutionalized racism

Oxford, OHIO, USA—Yusef Salaam came to speak about his experiences in the criminal justice system in Armstrong Student Center last night, following the presentation of...

April 10, 2018

April poetry contest buds into spring

Learning is the continual Change in which one becomes an alloy of the Entirety of the world Beautiful university, where? This poem by sophomore Viengsamai...

April 3, 2018

TORTILLAS AND MOTORCYCLES: MY FAMILY, ITS MEMORIES AND THE OPINIONS IN BETWEEN

Originally published in The Miami Student magazine Students packed the auditorium for a diversity panel at the Ohio University High School Journalism Workshop. It wasn’t...

April 3, 2018

She's got options on Valentine's Day

Here is what you should know before you swipe right on Athena Scalzi: She’s a creative writing major, a Capricorn, left-handed, thicker “than a bowl...

February 12, 2018

Ballroom dance club finds footing in new roles

Oxford, OHIO, USA—Mambo. Cha cha. Quickstep. Foxtrot. All ballroom dances involve a “leader,” which is traditionally a man, who directs the “follower,” traditionally a woman....

February 6, 2018

Women's self-defense class a rank above the rest

Originally published in The Miami Student in November 2017 It was Thursday. It was dark. I was Uptown, walking alone past a brooding Brick Street...

November 28, 2017

Missing home and hot tortillas

An early draft of this was originally published in The Miami Student in September 2017 “No, I should wait to visit. I’ve only been at...

September 12, 2017