“With great power, comes great responsibility,” A saying that has been repeated over
and over again by one of my favorite superheroes, Spiderman. A saying that I keep in mind
every time I do journalism. I didn’t think about it, at least not fully, until I was asked about why I do journalism by a high school student in Ghana. We visited a high school to assist with a
project for Ed Madison that required teaching interviewing and other journalism skills. I was
honored to sit in front of the class and talk about my work with some of my student colleagues.

I told them how I started and how compelled I felt when I saw the George Floyd protests. Right then I knew I had to stand up and do something.“With great power, comes great responsibility,” I told them. I knew that I was a journalist and that I had the skills to do something to help. I was lucky enough to have mentors who encouraged me to start my career and trusted me enough not do anything too stupid when I did get involved. I told them about the crazy stuff like the teargas and the rubber bullets and about all my friends in the press corps who weren’t as lucky as I was to get out of the protests without a scratch. I told them that this kind of work can be dangerous, and you shouldn’t just jump in without thinking, but that it’s important work that helps people when
you are doing it right.

Journalism is a great responsibility to my audience. Every story I have the opportunity to
tell is a privilege; therefore, I need to tell every story with great care and not just pull them out of the air. I go talk to people, I go find the story. I love this line of work because I get to listen to people and hear what they go through. I tell every story with the belief that, if someone else had the responsibility rather than me, that person might get the story wrong or worse—the story may never get told at all. It’s an incredible feeling getting to hear and make stories and see those stories go to print. I love knowing that I get to tell the stories that I do, and I will do it for as long as I can. Because every story matters to me and every story is important to me. I don’t see myself as a superhero or having any special power, but I do know I have a place, that my words can be read, and my photos can be seen. I know that the people behind the stories are happy to tell them and that I am happy to tell each and every one of them.

A friend from my days working retail wrote to me while I was in Ghana. He told me how
proud he was that I was doing what I always told him and my friends at work that I would do. I
am a writer, I am storyteller. I never thought I would make it this far or that I would be able to
travel and tell the stories that I have told, but I am incredibly grateful to the people that have
helped me get this far and I am more than proud of how far I have made it. I look forward to
the next journey and stories to follow.