New Editor Brings New Perspective To Patch

TINLEY PARK, IL— I have a vivid memory of Halloween in the sixth grade. My reading and language arts teacher had assigned our very first creative story to write. Like many others in the class, I was very nervous to share with my peers. Most students had written a page or two of a spooky story, which was expected. I had written six, with multiple characters, and even had voices for each one. When I finished reading the story to my class, my teacher pulled me aside and said to me "Yasmeen, you were born to be a writer." I thought she was nuts.

I grew up in Tinley Park, where I attended Kirby School District 140 and Victor J. Andrew High School. It was in these years of my life that I grew very fond of creative writing. I would walk around the halls of my high school with a binder full of poetry that my teachers would often mistake for notes on their lectures. My poetry consisted of stories about strong women, the ability to overcome conformity and a world where everyone can co-exist. When I was about 15-years-old, I decided I wanted to be a writer for the rest of my life. That is when I discovered the world of journalism.

I will be honest, before college, I knew practically nothing about how the media works, other than feeling as though my community was always misrepresented. As a regular attendee of the Orland Park Prayer Center as a teenager, I would volunteer as a writer for their monthly newsletter. Often, I would write columns on how Muslims need to repaint our image in media, so much so that when an article is written about us that is not in our favor, our actions as a community speak louder than the words written by someone else.

Tinley Park is a very diverse neighborhood that is full of people who look a lot like me, the standard Arab/Muslim 22-year-old. When starting my first year at Columbia College Chicago, I didn't think I would be the only Muslim in my journalism graduating class. It was almost like a reverse culture shock. While I felt obligated to produce stories for the college paper that reflected marginalized communities, a majority of my peers did not fall into that same category.

I felt my identity was my strength in college. I was able to be different, even if it wasn't always accepted. During my senior year of college, I landed an internship with WGN-TV, where I was able to cover stories such as the Chicago Teachers Union strike, which I will never forget. Near the end of my internship, I was given an offer to work as a producer with WGN-Radio, where I worked prior to joining Patch.

I have gravitated toward local news to see how my town is handling the many issues we are being faced with. To me, local news is one of the key factors to what makes a town home; it brings us together. Patch has been a source that I have always referred to, even as a kid. With this new position as my very first full-time job in the industry, I hope to shed light on communities that feel underrepresented, communities of color, small businesses and more.

I guess maybe my sixth-grade reading and language arts teacher was right after all. I was born to be a writer.