Stories by
By Ayana Archie
Laura Zornosa remembers her high school’s cliques, and how she did not fit into just one. Then, she said, she found journalism.
“What drew me in at first was the people,” she said. “I was looking for allies, I would say. The newsroom was never not full of a group of the most ragtag, oddball people that you’d meet.”
That was freshman year. Now, Laura, 21, is a junior at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Her plans are not set in stone, but she is guided by what she is passionate about: bicultural reporting and international journalism.
“We’re flooded by domestic news and that shouldn’t be,” she said. “We’re such a global community, those things should be a lot more intertwined.”
She said Northwestern taught her to “be fulfilled and satisfied with my own successes,” of which she has many.
Laura is double majoring in journalism and international studies. She also studied abroad in Spain for her Spanish minor. She is president of her university’s National Association of Hispanic Journalists chapter.
This summer, she will be reporting on federal politics for the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C.
Laura lives in Evanston, Ill., which borders Chicago and is the home of Northwestern. She is from Wisconsin, but was born in the Chicago area. Her mother is also a native of Chicago, so she has family nearby.
Her Latina identity drives some of her work.
“I want to be a voice for those who may need it,” she said.
Ultimately, though, Laura is just eager to tell stories.
“I’m so young,” she said. “I’ll write about anything.”
Photo by Jason Armond/NYT Institute