I want to start by saying thank you. I hope you have all enjoyed what my team and I have worked on over the course of this year.
I want to thank The Kent Stater, its leadership both past and future, along with our advisors for this opportunity you have given Kent State students. I want to thank you, our audience, who continue to support us every step of the way and trust us with bringing you your news.
In Spring of 2023, on a whim I chose to join staff. After hearing about how influential it would be to my career in addition to the repetition of ‘‘joining clubs helps you ‘fit in’ during your time at college,’’ I wanted to try something new. Starting on the photography team for KentWired – the previous name of the organization time- I not only learned the value of photojournalism and the importance of storytelling for our audience, but I joined an organization where they strove to balance creating a welcoming environment while also telling our audience important, timely news.
Throughout my three years on staff I learned plenty about design, photography, news judgment, visual storytelling and so much more. But what I take away as I graduate are the memories that I made during my time in the visuals department. From starting as just a staff photographer to stepping into the position of Visuals Editor for the 2025-2026 year, the people that I have met over these years are always the reason why I chose to return.
From learning lessons about photojournalism from Matt Brown as a new photographer for KentWired to collaborating coverage last semester with John Engoglia, discussing stories with Connor, creating galleries with Alyson, 2026 M.A.C. Tournament coverage with Emily, late nights creating the newspaper with Lillian and Meaghan and all the times in and out of the newsroom between, I can graduate knowing that I made the right choice taking that chance my freshman year.
Working with a group of people as special as you find on The Kent Stater staff has been an honor, and what I have created throughout my time I am especially proud of because it was done with a talented, wonderful team of people that I am so grateful for getting the chance to know.
-Yaz
