In the past four weeks,
● I’ve been unironically listening to “Earth” by Lil Dicky;
● I accidentally got a caffeine addiction because I found the perfect way to make a chai in the morning;
● I’ve considered dropping out and becoming a beekeeper enough times that it seems like it may actually be a good idea;
● I watched Queer Eye’s new season in one sitting and had an out-of-body experience;
● I got an “under his eye” face mask that I’m probably too excited about; and
● I’ve been working on getting my “Liz energy” back by reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle (it’s working).

I’m about halfway through my CAPS Fellowship at Internews in Washington, D.C. I’ve been working from my parents’ house in Kouts, IN, quarantining with a close group of friends, attending protests, and hanging out with my dogs and nephew.

My main role is to help the Global Tech arm within Internews think more strategically about how they’re telling their story, but I’ve also helped with content creation and copywriting. I’ll be moving to more writing assignments as the communication plan gets finished in the next few weeks.

I’ve thought more about anti-censorship, digital security and digital rights in the past month than I have in my entire time at Valpo. I’ve always avoided anything to do with STEM and never considered that a person can’t be a human rights activist without also fighting in the digital space. I started out way out of my element, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of things and have already come to appreciate how technology plays a role in activism.

It’s been especially helpful to be learning about digital rights and free press as a journalism student in a period of misinformation campaigns, elections and a global pandemic. I didn’t realize how valuable this work has been in application to other parts of my life.

My passion is communication. I am the “Media”, whether I like it or not. I’m Director of Marketing for TEDxValparaisoUniversity, Vice President Member Education for my sorority and the Opinions Editor for The Torch.

I’ve always known ethics play a huge role in my responsibilities, but they’ve been challenged way past what I could have learned in a classroom this year. With each new addition to my resume, I learn more and more about what information audiences can benefit from and what ends up just being harmful or white noise. Four weeks in, I can’t imagine being an activist going forward without also advocating for independent media and rights in the digital space.