• Rachel ChinapenNeighbor

  • Three Village, NY

I took up writing poetry around the age of 10. I loved the idea of arousing emotions in another person through my words. It wasn’t until high school that I realized journalism would allow me to not only arouse emotions, but also to inform others.

When I began college at Stony Brook University in 2008 I knew that I wanted to major in journalism. I took what felt like an endless amount of journalism courses in which I learned lessons on accuracy, research, and story construction. In 2010 I contributed a handful of stories to a campus newspaper, <i>The Statesman</i>. I would say without a doubt that my time at <i>The Statesman</i> gave me the most hands-on experience regarding what it’s really like to work at a news organization. The nights spent fact-checking stories and dealing with last minute problems provided me with a sense of belonging to a team—a nice break from the nights spent alone writing stories for classes. 

While writing for <i>The Statesman</i> I also took courses in presentation for the web that opened my eyes to another intriguing medium of journalism. I worked on developing my photography and video skills as the lesson that all journalists must be a “Jack-of-all-trades” was drilled into my head. I shot, edited, and produced a profile video of the Tattoo Lou’s of Selden that the gentlemen were so kind to upload to the shop’s YouTube channel. It was a satisfying experience to tell a story in a different way and have people enjoy it. It was then that I realized the importance of telling a story in all mediums possible in order to reach and inform the most people. 

Posting Activity

Rachel Chinapen currently has no active events