According to Judy Collins, there are two sides to life. Perhaps my love of John Denver, Kenny Loggins, and Carol King sugarcoated my view. Since infancy, my parents used Tapestry to induce sleep on long car rides. Snuggled into warm, leather seats, I comfortably listened to King’s melodic tunes. Calming and quiet, sometimes sad, but never disobedient, this music became my favorite. However, as I grew older, the compliant nature of my parent’s music diverged from my newly formed ideologies. The importance of small acts of defiance, especially when using my voice became apparent. I am an avid proponent of the expression of uniqueness and originality, in spite and sometimes because of controversy and debate created by a voice challenging an injustice.
While studying journalism, I travelled to London on a field trip to hone my investigation skills. Flung into the massive British Library, I was told to find a story, but without a reader’s pass, I
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As unsettling as “God Save the Queen” may be, this quintessential punk single understood the necessity of challenging norms and asserting its own principles. As I have grown older, I hunt for music, be it NWA, Bob Dylan, or Marvin Gaye, that shares this conviction. And I have tried to emulate this unapologetic nature, specifically in my articles. It is important to select topics that I care about and to write candidly about them, despite the possible backlash. Look for a story, an injustice, and share it with the world. At times, I worried certain opinions might be too provocative, but my enthrallment with the Punk movement taught me otherwise. Whether I am writing on Trump’s immigration ban or climate change, I choose to own my voice. Punk has informed my approach to both writing and life: resolve to be eccentric or incendiary because without a pinch of rebellion, we become