Editor’s note: Kyra was a Kid Reporter in 2015-2016. We recently asked her to reflect upon her experiences covering the 2016 presidential campaign.
At the start of this semester, I reported on the coronavirus pandemic for my college newspaper. I was out in the field, talking with fellow students as they moved into their dorms wearing face masks. It wasn’t how I pictured the start of my sophomore year, but if I’ve learned anything from being a journalist, it’s that the best stories can start anywhere.
My name is Kyra O’Connor. I’m a 19-year-old student journalist from Dublin, Ohio, and a sophomore at Elon University in North Carolina. I started writing articles when I created my classroom newspaper in fourth grade, and I haven’t stopped.
When I was 13, I was chosen to be a Scholastic Kid Reporter. I remember the exact moment I found out. I was at a concert, and my mom pulled me from backstage to give me the envelope that had arrived in the mail. That moment is still one of the best of my life because it changed my life forever.