Darvin Nelson, General Assignment Reporter
In grade school, mystery books were the only kind of books I could tolerate. While my peers were reading The Fault in Our Stars, I either had my nose in a Nancy Drew novel or was in the middle of a chapter in Encyclopedia Brown. There was something about the characters' ability to investigate a situation that I was envious of. So naturally, as I grew up, I gravitated to the idea of working in a student-news environment. Whenever I saw a student-news organization on television, I would picture myself investigating a story alongside them. Fresh out of high school, during Summer B 2019, I googled if UNF had a student news organization. That's how I found Spinnaker, a warm nook in the Student Union with a welcoming staff. I started volunteering immediately.
Soon enough I realized that investigative journalism is just one aspect of the journalism realm. I fell in love with storytelling and wanted to learn how to be good with words. I've navigated almost half of the positions in the news department and learned tremendously from each. But if I take away anything throughout my three years at Spinnaker, it's that our goal is to not only inform others but to tell stories through effective journalism. I'm a photography major, so for me, combining photography and writing has been a successful recipe for that.
Although there are challenges here and there that most journalists face, my curious mind keeps bringing me back to journalism, a truly alluring craft.
