About the Author

Hello!

My name is Zoe and I am a freshman at the University of Maryland. I am publishing this blog as a part of my Journalism class. To begin with, I am going to be sharing this post in hopes that you can gain a better understanding about me!

To begin with, I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, a bit far away from Maryland. Growing up in the midwest wasn’t always easy (lack of entertainment), but it was something I throughly enjoyed. To me, the midwest had some of the nicest people I had ever encountered, and being surrounded by that culture allowed me to adopt some of those core values! Additionally, growing up in Des Moines allowed me to be closest to my imediate family; my mom and dad, 4 siblings, and both sets of grandparents. Des Moines is where I met some of my closest friends and mentors, and it also gave me the opportunity to learn and grow in one of the most important aspects of my life: Basketball.

photocreds: Zoe Young

I began playing basketball in the 1st grade, however, it wasn’t something I always enjoyed. Prior to playing basketball, I ice skated. Ice skating was something I throughly enjoyed, doing it since an extremely young age. After quitting Ice Skating for personal reasons, I began to play basketball. Beginning in the YMCA league, I quickly realized that basketball was very different from ice skating. For one, ice skating was an individual sport, whereas basketball forced me to cooperate with others– something I didn’t particularly enjoy.

Photo Creds: Zoe Young

However, after a couple years I adapted to the style play and in short, I fell in love! Basketball has given me some of my favorite memories, as well as some of my favorite people. I began playing AAU basketball in the 3rd grade and played through my 11th grade year. AAU basketball gave me the opportunity to travel and play against some of the best competition in the country. It also gave me the oppurtinity to be seen by colleges. My recruiting process began in the 7th grade with an offer from Indiana Univeristy, and quickly took off from there.

The summer before my junior year I verbally committed to the University of Maryland, and signed my national letter of intent the fall of my senior year… Leading me here! I am currently a freshman on the women’s basketball team. In additon to basketball I also enjoyed hanging out with my teammates, painting, reading and listening to music.

I am very interested in how media can develop both societal and political movements. Movements like black lives matter and me too have not only developed into globally known trends, but have also helped thousands of people with development of political policy. Knowing that media has the ability to change the narrative surrounding different components of life is something I find both interesting and awesome. To further my knowledge in this I have some core questions: How does media allow for people to reach others on a mass scale? What steps are necessary to develop a social media movement?