The 6 o’clock news consolidated my household, signaling my father’s return from work and breaking my sister and me from pages of homework, and my mother from the dishes. Upon taking our seats at the dinner table, my mother would turn on the television as my father placed the NY Post and DailyNews in front of me. Having spared a dollar each day, he would read the two papers during his shift at the convenience store and bring them home for me with notes on every other page. I read them during the commercial breaks, skimming through stories of robberies, drive-bys, and murders; sections of obituaries and celebrity gossip; and the daily cartoon. At the age of nine, the daily papers weren’t the easiest to comprehend. So the news acted as the liaison between me and the documents that lay in front of me, breaking down key stories through visual storytelling. Journalism had been woven into my routine long before I realized it. As a natural inquirer, I never resisted. It was almost exciting how reports of current events allowed me to momentarily escape my day-to-day life, inviting me into an unknown world. In just minutes, I could connect with people, places, and pieces of history that broadened my understanding of nearby communities, and those thousands of miles away. By the time I entered middle school, a shared passion for inquiry and writing led me to take a journalism elective class. I dedicated two to three days a week to learning how to become a better writer … a better listener. I submitted entries to the school newspaper, and supported other students to improve their writing skills. My participation eventually landed me a journalism award during my eighth grade graduation ceremony. Soon after, I fell out of writing recreationally, focusing on the traditional 5 paragraph essays that would land me the highest remarks, and grant me admission to top schools whose graduates went on to earn six-figure salaries. Aside from watching the 6 o’clock news, reading the daily papers, and exploring documentaries, journalism was not something I practiced. Though I did return to writing my first semester of college, when I realized that there was more to life than monetary gain (and that my interest in sociology would probably not secure me a billion-dollar net-worth). I took an introductory journalism course, conducting street and phone interviews weekly to write about topics that ranged from immigration to education inequity in New York City. I then dabbled in documentary filmmaking, taking a fundamentals course, and producing a 5-minute film for a research project. In my final semester of college, I co-founded a magazine on female empowerment, interviewing high-profile artists, creators and founders like Madison Tevlin, Emma Sulkowicz, and Rachel Doyle. Through each essay and interview, I learned about social issues and the world around me by talking to people in my community – using them as the subjects of my stories. As I want to develop the skills I learned in undergrad through a professional program, I will be attending the Columbia Journalism School in the Fall of 2026. Upon completion of the degree, I plan to use the skills I learned in journalism and filmmaking to create write for a multi-platform media company, advocating for more content on marginalized and lesser-known communities, including my parents’ homeland, Sri Lanka. I eventually hope to travel around the world and learn about social issues and unique cultural enclaves, documenting my findings in a written travel series to teach others about the uniqueness of life.