I’m a word person. I always have been. Growing up in a house full of storytellers led me to choose journalism as my major — though it was cemented as a part of my identity long before college.
Yet, there I was, with my cursor blinking on a blank page because no words could fully describe what this experience has meant to me.
I’ve been writing for The Denver Clarion since my first Monday of freshman year. I stumbled into the Arts and Life section and pretty much never left. My second year, I became editor of the section — a role that deepened my love for entertainment journalism in ways I didn’t expect.
Some of my most prized memories live there: interviewing Daisy the Great, standing in the press pit for the Backseat Lovers and spending seven weeks on a deep dive into Phoenix Tattoo Company that showed me the ins and outs of investigative reporting and what it means to stand firm in your rights as a student journalist.
Stepping into the Executive Editor role opened a whole new door for me. I started picking up stories across sections, which is what led me to the Opinions section. I got to write about Justin Bieber and lesbian bars, TV shows I was wildly opinionated about, my brief but intense sports betting addiction and the future of journalism itself. Turns out, getting to write about everything under the sun teaches you a lot about what you actually care about. Writing across sections gave me a sense of versatility I didn’t know I needed as I prepare to enter the reporting world post-grad. Opinions taught me how to write with passion. Arts & Life taught me how to engage with my creative community. News taught me how to hold public figures in leadership accountable. Unify taught me how to uplift marginalized voices through my writing. Sports taught me that I don’t like writing about sports.
The experiences I gained in my leadership position this past year are ones I will carry with me forever. Working alongside Editor-in-Chief Alyssa Avila has been one of the greatest privileges of my college experience. We connected through The Clarion and then quickly realized how much we had in common and how much fun we had together. It doesn’t always work out that way — working with your best friend can be a gamble — but I got to take that chance, and I’m so glad it paid off.
To our incredible staff — thank you. This paper is only as good as the people in the newsroom and I was so lucky to have the opportunity to work with such a passionate group of student journalists.
To the incoming team — The Clarion is in great hands. This is not an easy job, but it is surely a rewarding one. I hope you learn as much from it as I did.
With appreciation greater than words,
Anna Neumann,
Executive Editor Emerita
