Isabella Lo: News & Features editor

As senior Bella Lo prepares to leave for Oregon State University, she reflects back on her two years as a reporter and News and Features editor on The Cardinal Times. Lo began her journey freshman year, after she joined Mass Communications to further her writing skills. 

“I liked writing, and I wasn’t really sure what the class was going to be about, but I thought it might be fun. And I wanted to try and develop some better communication skills. And then I just ended up really liking it. My freshman year, there were only a few of us in class, but it’s definitely grown. It’s been a lot of fun, so I just kept going with it,” Lo says. 

After taking Mass Communications freshman year, Lo wasn’t able to move on to Advanced Mass Communications until her junior year due to class scheduling conflicts. While she wasn’t able to officially be in class this year, her dedication to the paper and her role was evident. Over the past two years Lo has been a part of the staff, the people and connections she was able to make stood out. 

“For one, I really liked the community. It’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to be in the class this year, but I’ve met a lot of cool people. And a few are now good friends. I think it’s also been fun to develop writing skills and it’s not, you know, your typical English writing,” Lo says. “You get a little bit more freedom with it. And I’ve learned to work under deadlines and develop my communication skills.” 

One of Lo’s favorite memories was the workshops the staff went to each year. 

“Last year we went to a writers convention at the University of Oregon. That was really fun. Instead of going to school, we met in the morning and drove over to the University of Oregon campus and attended some workshops on journalism. It was a lot of fun spending the day with the staff,” says Lo. 

Lo recalls writing a unique article her first year on the newspaper. 

“One notable [article] I remember was an article about youth vaping. That took awhile and it was a different process, because I had to use anonymous sources, which usually we don’t really like to do,” says Lo. “But just for the purpose of the article, I was interviewing students who had vaped, and they didn’t want to have their names be known. So that was kind of an interesting process. And we just had to be very careful with it and do a lot of research.”

Over her two years on the Cardinal Times staff, Lo learned valuable knowledge to pass on to future staff. 

“My advice would be to enjoy writing and find topics and pieces that you really want to write,” says Lo. “And don’t be afraid to cover things that might be scary and have interviews that might be scary. It might be scary to reach out, but don’t be afraid. And enjoy your time when you’re on staff.”