Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism

Monthly archive

July 2015 - page 2

Alivia Rawls

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Alivia Rawls, 17, has dirty blond hair, lives in south Tulsa, and “love, love, loves creative writing.” Growing up with a homeless father with a mental illness has made her a determined person, even though he is not around. His situation helped Rawls become passionate about raising awareness of people with mental illnesses and advocating for them. Rawls also relies on creative writing as a stress outlet. The young writer was raised in a single-parent home and has three older siblings. At age 16, Rawls graduated from Oklahoma Virtual High School and received a full-tuition scholarship to the University of…

Taylor Ponds

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Taylor Ponds, 16, rolled groggily into the bathroom to start her morning ritual. She showered and listened to rap music, pausing frequently and skipping a song she just didn’t feel. She decided on J. Cole, and proceeded to spend an extra 4 minutes under the water because she wanted to listen to the song twice. “I love music,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.” After adding a final touch of lotion on her hands for the day, Ponds crossed the hall and helped her brother Malachi, 4. He is one of the more than 400,000 people…

Miranda Stillings

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“Have I gone mad? I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers!” These words from Lewis Carroll’s book “Alice in Wonderland” run through Miranda Stillings’ head daily. She lives with her dad, older brother, and about 130 stuffed animals, including two of her favorites, a collie named Laddie and a fox called Growlithe. Since she was young, she has brought life and created characters for each one of her stuffed animals. She also created a kingdom out of her room, of which she is the ruler and all of the animals are her people. “My imagination is insane. I have this weird…

Rachel Brown

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Journalists and forensic teams are known to clash at some crime scenes, but in Rachel Brown’s world they harmoniously co-exist. Her love for forensics began when she was younger; and she later developed a love for insects in the seventh grade, during an arthropod project. Despite enjoying the study of insects, she soon discovered she doesn’t care for collecting and pinning spiders. “It’s complicated, you’d just have to stick the pin in the abdomen and try it for yourself,” Brown said. In the middle of her seventh-grade year, her school hired a new science teacher, who took them to the…

Shelby Massey

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The struggle of living with Graves’ disease, a disorder in the thyroids, is a daily battle for the more than 3 million Americans who are diagnosed with it every year, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Among these people is 16-year-old Shelby Massey, a home-schooled high school junior. Massey was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in fall 2013. In addition, she also struggles at times with hyperthyroidism — when her thyroid makes more hormones than needed. At other times she battles hypothyroidism, which is when the thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones. Massey said Graves’ disease affects those who have it emotionally,…

Viviana Morena

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Viviana Moreno describes herself as “sarcastic and blunt” as a result of experiences she had as a young girl. She is a first-generation Mexican American, who plans to be the first member of her family to go to college. Moreno said she already have faced many obstacles in her 17 years, such as a controlling father, the recession of 2008, odd jobs, divorce and homelessness. Moreno describes her younger years as ordinary, living near Phoenix in the mountains. Her father, Horacio, worked in construction, while her mother, Maria; older sister, Estefany; and two younger brothers, Brian, who has autism, and…

Morgan Ashcraft

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Morgan Ashcraft is a unique girl, someone who prides herself on standing out from the crowd. With her complex and multi-layered nature, she’s absolutely one-of-a-kind. Unlike many teenagers her age, Ashcraft is interested in foreign affairs, particularly the Middle East. She is fascinated to learn about people’s stories and the problems in that area compared with Oklahoma. Ashcraft is unique in that she is open-minded on religion. While she is not particularly religious, she said she never says no to the possibility of something existing beyond earthly matters. Some people have a fairly set-in-stone belief system about what comes after…

Lyric Hill

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If you were to look over your shoulder while standing in the middle of a busy lunchroom, you may find Lyric Hill tucked away in a booth, indulged in a new anime series. Hill, a 16-year-old Barryville native, moved to Sapulpa, Okla., when she was just 4 years old, then later a more intense transition to Little Axe, Okla., her freshman year. “Sapulpa is probably 3 times the size of Little Axe,” she said, adding that the move was hard on her. Hill comes from a family with unique first and middle names. In addition to Lyric Zeda, there are…

Sierra Brown

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Sierra Brown is a junior at Deer Creek High School, where she is involved with many school clubs, such as Youth and Government. The club has four different branches: judicial, legislative, media and lobbyist. Sierra’s favorite branch is judicial, because it has the drama and excitement of trials. She has been involved in in the legislative, media, and judicial branches. This upcoming year, she will be an attorney in the club, and plans to run for a judge position. Other clubs Brown is involved in are Link Crew, Key Club, National Honors Society, debate, the school newspaper and biology labs…

Janki Patel

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Though born and raised in Oklahoma, Westmoore High School senior Janki Patel is hoping to branch out to New York City by becoming a magazine editor in the fashion industry. Patel’s mornings consists of unraveling in a cup of coffee and double-checking her latest homework assignments on her laptop — more than likely last-minute edits to her high school’s yearbook. Patel has been the editor-in-chief for two years. Along with being elected Overall Successful Yearbook Staff Member in her school, Patel has won numerous awards at Oklahoma Scholastic Media, a conference that’s dedicated to high school journalists. But her aspiration…

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