2015-2016 Resume
Noor Qureishy
1478 Wellington Way
Eagan, MN 55122
[email protected]
"You're miserable, edgy, and tired. You're in the perfect mood for journalism."
- Warren Ellis
Education:
2013-14 Writing for Publications I, II
2012-16 MHSPA Minnesota Convention
2014-16 Journalism, Sem. 1 and Sem. 2
2014 JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention
Attended sessions for writing, design, and photography.
2015-16 Editorial Leadership, Sem. 1 and Sem. 2
2016 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Spring Convention
Attended sessions for design, digital journalism, writing, and photography.
Experience:
2010-12 The Meridian
MS Club that meets weekly for a trimester to put out a newspaper
2010-13 Work published in Saint Paul Academy’s Middle School Blog
and The Meridian
2014-15 Student Life Editor, Staff Writer: The Rubicon
2015-16 In-Depth Editor, The Rubicon
2016 Managing Editor, The Rubicon
2016 News Intern at Press Publications, White Bear Lake
2016 Social Media Intern, Minnesota History Center
Responsibilities include:
· Editing majority of in-print drafts for content and AP style
· Writing stories for The Rubicon; interviewing, drafting
· Updating drafts checklist, keeping track of tasks for the day
· Meeting with other top editors to discuss leadership methods, set goals for staff, and discuss issues
· Contributing to pre and post-critique of each issue
Special Skills:
· Strong editing, writing and collaboration abilities
· Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign experience
· Management & organization skills
Individual Awards:
2011 Piece published in Saint Paul Academy’s Art & Lit. Magazine
2014 Best of School Newspapers Online, Feature: Hedgehogs
2015 Journalism Honor Role Student
2015 Best of School Newspapers Online, Feature: Physical Comedy
2015 First Place Honors, Journalism Day at the Guthrie Review Writing Contest
2015 CSPA Best of Crown Award: Hashtag Activism
2015 MHSPA Gold Medallion Honorable Mention
2016 Piece published in "Engage Minnesota," local blog
2016 Selected as the Minnesota representative for the 2016 Al Neuharth Free Spirit Conference (2016 Al Neuharth Free Spirit Scholar).
2016 Best of School Newspapers Online, Sports: Masculinity
2016 Quill & Scroll Society member
2016 Led "Let's get social, media" session at MHSPA conference
2016 Second Place, CSPA Gold Circle Award
2016 Best of School Newspapers Online, News: Affinity Group
The Rubicon Publication Awards (2016-17):
JEM All State Gold – Print and Online
MHSPA Best of Show — Print (3rd) and Online (1st)
NSPA All American (Print), First Class w/3 Marks of Distinction (Online)
NSPA Pacemaker Finalist (Print) and Pacemaker (Online)
CSPA Gold Medal w/All Columbian Honors
CSPA Silver Crown Award
School Newspapers Online: Distinguished Site
Reflection
The limits of my language means the limits of my world.
I’ve always thought of writing as a kind of magic, with the power to express emotions and ideas that help us all become better, more compassionate human beings. Being on the staff of The Rubicon has allowed me to tap into that magic – to pursue writing with purpose and be a part of the discussion around issues at St. Paul Academy and Summit School that matter to me and my community.
Over these past four years, I’ve learned how to write an article effectively, take better photos, and how to use design programs like Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. I’ve also learned how to ask meaningful questions, which is a skill I’ve used extensively in my English and History classes. I don’t think I realized how important asking the right questions was to writing well, or to discussing a topic intelligently until this year, but I’m grateful to have learned how to do that and to have had the opportunity to constantly practice it with The Rubicon.
I’ve developed a greater awareness of how the SPA community works and a deeper connection with the SPA community by being on The Rubicon staff. One of my favorite parts of both being an SPA student and of being a staff member on The Rubicon is that I constantly meet and get to learn about people in the SPA community that are genuinely wonderful and inspiring. It’s learning from these people and forming connections with them that I wouldn’t have an opportunity to do otherwise that really has made being the work we do on The Rubicon rewarding for me. And, of course, I’ve also loved learning from and being amazed by everyone who’s actually on The Rubicon and RubicOnline staff.
The ethical journalism practice that best carries into my worldview is the idea that being responsible about representing individuals is a necessary part of being a journalist. As I mentioned in my reflection from last semester, I believe very strongly that the media has enormous, and in some ways, unfathomable power over people’s subconscious beliefs about individuals or groups as a whole – even high school newspapers, which have a considerably smaller audience than national news networks – can influence the way people think and feel. I’ve applied this ethical journalism practice to my worldview by trying to be responsible and thoughtful with the way I talk about or talk to people of different races, religions, sexualities, genders and so on – responsible in the sense that I try to actively resist being a part of the systems of privilege that we see manifesting even in casual conversation.
Having The Rubicon be a place of free expression is important to me, especially in this political climate, because I really like the nature of discourse between The Rubicon and the SPA community versus the kind of discourse we see happening in the hallways or on the opinion board, because it’s structured and thought out in a way that we don’t see a lot nowadays. If The Rubicon wasn’t a place of free expression, that type of discourse would no longer play the same part at SPA and I believe that the community would be worse off for it. In a similar sense, print newspapers are still important in the digital age because they provide a way for readers to physically interact with what they’re reading – there’s something about (and there’s been research done on how our brains absorb information differently when we read it on a screen) reading a long-form article that requires real effort to process and reflect on physically versus on a screen.
In a high school setting (or even on a national level), print newspapers remain relevant because when readers are looking for news online there is so much information for them to filter through that it can often be difficult to learn about what’s going on in the world because the sheer quantity of information is so overwhelming and confusing. Print newspapers can serve to distill this enormous quantity of relevant information and news down to 16 pages of the most important articles for that news cycle, so readers can actually understand what’s going on without being overwhelmed or misled by inaccurate news sources online.
Over these past four years, I’ve learned how to write an article effectively, take better photos, and how to use design programs like Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. I’ve also learned how to ask meaningful questions, which is a skill I’ve used extensively in my English and History classes. I don’t think I realized how important asking the right questions was to writing well, or to discussing a topic intelligently until this year, but I’m grateful to have learned how to do that and to have had the opportunity to constantly practice it with The Rubicon.
I’ve developed a greater awareness of how the SPA community works and a deeper connection with the SPA community by being on The Rubicon staff. One of my favorite parts of both being an SPA student and of being a staff member on The Rubicon is that I constantly meet and get to learn about people in the SPA community that are genuinely wonderful and inspiring. It’s learning from these people and forming connections with them that I wouldn’t have an opportunity to do otherwise that really has made being the work we do on The Rubicon rewarding for me. And, of course, I’ve also loved learning from and being amazed by everyone who’s actually on The Rubicon and RubicOnline staff.
The ethical journalism practice that best carries into my worldview is the idea that being responsible about representing individuals is a necessary part of being a journalist. As I mentioned in my reflection from last semester, I believe very strongly that the media has enormous, and in some ways, unfathomable power over people’s subconscious beliefs about individuals or groups as a whole – even high school newspapers, which have a considerably smaller audience than national news networks – can influence the way people think and feel. I’ve applied this ethical journalism practice to my worldview by trying to be responsible and thoughtful with the way I talk about or talk to people of different races, religions, sexualities, genders and so on – responsible in the sense that I try to actively resist being a part of the systems of privilege that we see manifesting even in casual conversation.
Having The Rubicon be a place of free expression is important to me, especially in this political climate, because I really like the nature of discourse between The Rubicon and the SPA community versus the kind of discourse we see happening in the hallways or on the opinion board, because it’s structured and thought out in a way that we don’t see a lot nowadays. If The Rubicon wasn’t a place of free expression, that type of discourse would no longer play the same part at SPA and I believe that the community would be worse off for it. In a similar sense, print newspapers are still important in the digital age because they provide a way for readers to physically interact with what they’re reading – there’s something about (and there’s been research done on how our brains absorb information differently when we read it on a screen) reading a long-form article that requires real effort to process and reflect on physically versus on a screen.
In a high school setting (or even on a national level), print newspapers remain relevant because when readers are looking for news online there is so much information for them to filter through that it can often be difficult to learn about what’s going on in the world because the sheer quantity of information is so overwhelming and confusing. Print newspapers can serve to distill this enormous quantity of relevant information and news down to 16 pages of the most important articles for that news cycle, so readers can actually understand what’s going on without being overwhelmed or misled by inaccurate news sources online.