Meet the Staff: Tyra Hughes

Q1: What is your position at the Pioneer?

I am the co-Editor in Chief.

Q2: Why did you want to join?

I’ve always liked writing and since I took Intro to Journalism freshman year, I thought that Newspaper would be the better path for me. I see journalism as a way to tell my perspective on society.

Q3: You have been writing articles for the Pioneer since your sophomore year and this school year will be your second as co-Editor in Chief. How would you describe your experiences writing for and leading the Pioneer?

It’s a lot of fun to lead the Pioneer because it gives me a lot of freedom to find creative ways to make it engaging, even for the club members. That’s why I did the writing workshops.

Q4: Do you have a favorite article of yours?

The one about Joe Suriano, because although he wasn’t my track coach it was interesting to write about someone famous. I thought it was a good learning experience because I never wrote an article about someone who passed away. I think because I was able to get so many responses from the teachers and people in the district, I was able to put his legacy into words.

Q5: Since you first began writing for the Pioneer, a number of your articles have been about the prominent issues affecting black celebrities and black Americans as a whole, from the Colin Kaepernick controversy, to scientific racism, and to police brutality. Would you say that your perspective on any particular topic has evolved or shifted and if so, how?

It’s the same. As I continue to see the news and current events, I get more passionate about it because it’s more information adding onto my perspective. I’m generally drawn to writing about those subjects because they pertain to me. There’s not a lot of black journalists and there’s not a lot of black female journalists so if I have a platform to speak on these topics then I’m going to use it.

Q5: What colleges are you interested in applying to?

Temple, NYU, and possibly Howard, but I’m leaning more toward Temple and NYU.

Q6: Do you have any favorite movies, games, or songs?

I really love The Edge of Seventeen — the ultimate coming of age movie haha — and Moonlight. UNO is definitely my favorite game, although I’m not the best at it. And if I had to pick one favorite song right now, it’d be All I Wanted by Paramore. Classic!

Q7: What are your other hobbies or interests? Have you learned any new hobbies or improved on existing ones since the start of Quarantine?

I like writing creative non-fiction — so, like personal essays and things like that. I like watching Netflix, currently Umbrella Academy. I have a Youtube channel called Her Expressive Mind, too. I’ve been trying cooking, like that was my thing in the beginning of quarantine but now not so much. I was basically a professional chef at the beginning of quarantine.

Q8: Are you in any other clubs?

I am the Student Council Secretary. It’s really fun because the whole board, the whole team, is all girls. It’s really exciting because I don’t think that’s been done before. I’m also in track, but I forgot about it and I haven’t been working out because the season was cancelled last year. I do some running sometimes, but [I did] pole vault technically last year.

Q9: Would you like to share any wisdom with our readers?

Let’s see. One word of advice would be to finish what you start. Since we’re in a weird quarantine time I feel like more people are pressured to hussle. I think it’s okay if not everyone got those goals done, but when you get into the right mindset that you want to finish what you start then go for it. If you put the energy towards something, don’t feel forced to do it if you aren’t 100 percent in it yet.

Q10: What are you excited for this school year?

Probably — like I said — student council. I’m excited for my RCGE class. I already love that class, so I’m excited to see what discussions will happen. In general, graduating, I would like to see what we have in our post graduation lives.