Stories I have written for different classes and for my internship:​
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An in-depth human interest story written last spring:
Walking into a new place is usually intimidating. But when Madison Brainerd entered the Safe Zone on The University of Alabama’s campus, she felt welcomed and comfortable. Brainerd had picked up a flier the day before at Get On Board Day that advertised an introduction meeting for new students.
The moment Brainerd stepped foot in the cozy social area, she felt at home with the other LGBTQ and minority individuals. She immediately knew that she was among friends and said that some of those same people are her best friends now.
However, all of this changed when Senate Bill 129, abbreviated as SB-129, passed in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 20. SB-129 will keep public entities, including higher education institutions, from maintaining a diversity, equity and inclusion office, according to a court document from the Alabama Legislature. It will also ban funding for any organization that is involved with a divisive concept. “Our identities and our existence is supposedly a divisive concept,” Brainerd said.
Brainerd said that the bill and its wording are harmful to her and others like her. She added that it takes away some of her inherent rights.
She also attended a protest against the bill that occurred on Feb. 28 in front of Gorgas Library. The event was hosted by the Queer Student Association (QSA), the Black Faculty and Staff Ambassadors, and the Hispanic-Latino Association (HLA). Students chanted that their lives should not be stated as a divisive concept.
“I don’t like how broadly they define divisive concepts,” Laila Netus, a Black student at the University, said. “I feel like this definition could be used to include anything that people are uncomfortable talking about.”
SB-129 defines a divisive concept as anything ranging from critical race theory to the idea of inherent inferiority and superiority of certain races, ethnicities and genders.
“I think that DEI is very important, especially in a big university like ours,” Sarai Villatoro, a member of HLA, said.
According to the University's website, almost 10,000 students are part of a racial or ethnic minority. Villatro said that some of these students will not want to re-enroll in the University due to this suppression of their rights.
The chancellor of The University of Alabama System and its presidents sent out a written statement before the bill passed, stating that they are dedicated to the education of all people in an environment of expression and open thought. The email also said that University leadership will work to ensure that they are fulfilling this dedication while also continuing to be law-abiding.
A club on campus known as The University of Alabama College Republicans released a social media statement on Instagram after SB-129 passed.
“We want to express our utmost thanks to Governor Kay Ivey and the State Legislature for making SB-129… law in the Yellowhammer State,” the post read.
Many students are cursing lawmakers for passing SB-129 instead of praising them, including QSA.
“A ban on DEI will cripple minority student groups and resources, violate students’ constitutional rights, and represent another embarrassment by Alabama politicians,” the club stated on Instagram.
A Faculty Spotlight and Student Organizations Story written for the fall version of the University of Alabama Alumni Magazine:
Headline: A Place to Fit In
Subhead: Teneshia Arnold plays an integral role in connecting UA students through clubs and organizations
By Hannah Grace Mayfield
There are over 2,400 caves scattered across the state of Alabama, according to Explore Alabama. They are filled with countless types of rare rock and other archaeological phenomena.
Exploring these numerous and mysterious caverns would take many years, but the proposal for The Alabama Cave Appreciation Club sought to conquer them all. This proposal found its way onto the desk of Teneshia Arnold at the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
Receiving these ideas for new clubs on campus is a big part of Arnold’s daily work as the director of student involvement in the Student Life division at The University of Alabama.
Arnold registers new clubs while working with individual students to help them get involved in campus activities.
“No two days are the same in our department,” Arnold said. “We have such a big, diverse student organization community.”
Arnold added that the University has almost 700 clubs registered for the next school year. Some of these clubs are pickleball, ballroom dancing and even a UA record label for aspiring musicians.
“My favorite part of the job is watching organizations start as an idea and then grow to become official,” Arnold said.
Arnold said she has helped the Indian Student Organization of Tuscaloosa develop in the past few years. The club hosted Holi: Festival of Colors on March 23, according to its social media.
Previously, the event had been held off campus because it was a large undertaking for the small club.
“With the help of multiple campus partners, they were able to hold that event on the Quad this spring,” Arnold said.
Arnold attended the event and said how wonderful it was that the club could host it on campus for the first time.
“The event brought out a lot of students and community members to welcome in the spring, as well as to show appreciation for the culture,” Arnold said.
Arnold said that the impressive number of clubs at the University shows students are driven to help the Tuscaloosa community.
The University has many different types of clubs that include academic organizations, athletic and sports-based clubs and community service-oriented groups.
“Students are making an impact in their own unique ways, one person at a time,” Arnold said.
Book Review for UH 208:
James Clear’s Atomic Habits breaks down how to build good habits and halt bad ones into manageable and actionable chunks. Clear describes the four different laws of habit formation: the cue, which prompts a habit; the craving, the desire for a reward that the cue sparks; the response, the actual action a person takes to fulfill that craving or earn that reward; and the reward, which reinforces the behavior. His four rules, which include making the habit obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying, interact with these to start a new habit.
Clear also emphasizes changing your system of life instead of just setting goals. He states that one of the main issues that people run into when trying to develop a habit is beginning by setting an unattainable goal that just gets in their way. Instead, they should focus on deciding what identity they want to take on and working toward becoming that identity.
Breaking a bad habit is also detailed in this novel. Similar to building a new habit, there are four rules that Clear specifies are essential to getting away from a habit. He says the habit must be made invisible so that the cue does not prompt anything, unattractive so that the craving no longer exists, difficult so that the action cannot be taken, and unsatisfying so that the reward is no longer something to work towards. A unique idea that he presents in this chapter is finding an accountability partner to help break a negative habit.
One of Clear’s immediate actions a person can do to start a habit is to create a list of their current habits. “One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing. This helps explain why the consequences of bad habits can sneak up on us (Clear, 2018, 64).” I chose to partake in this exercise and target my habits relating to my jobs as assistant photo editor for The Crimson White and photo editor for Alice Magazine. As I have been involved in these two organizations since I got to the University of Alabama, I am very set in my ways, but I think improvement can be made through some new habits. My list led me to the realization that my photographic workflow is not as efficient as it could be. I rearranged tasks on my list and implemented this new workflow at the football game against Georgia on Saturday, September 27. I got my pictures in for our social media people to use ten minutes faster than I have in the past. Now, I can use this faster workflow in my professional career after college.
Another central theme in this self-help novel is that small actions over time can lead to big results. “Too often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action (Clear, 2018, 15).” This idea affected me in a more personal way because it gave me hope that I could overcome the anxiety I have relating to getting all of my work done. It may seem like getting all of my work done could be a positive habit, but constantly stressing about it creates a cycle of bad emotions. I have started to change small things about how I get work done to break this cyclical anxiety. I carved out a time in my day when I rarely get texts about breaking news or Alice stories to do homework. I have three online classes this semester, so setting a specific time in my day (the morning from 8:30-11:30 to get my work done is highly valuable. This was a small change that has given me more peace because I know that if I am stressed about getting an assignment done, I can do it the next morning during my designated time.
Perhaps the most important thing I have learned from this book is the value of having an accountability partner. All this change can be overwhelming, and Clear acknowledges this. He says that “knowing that someone is watching can be a powerful motivator (Clear, 2018, 210).” I implemented this in my own life through my relationship with my roommate. Both of us have struggled with negative self-talk as it relates to eating since we were children. We were chatting about this struggle the other day, and I remembered what Clear said about having someone else to keep you set on a regimen. My roommate and I agreed that if we heard the other speaking in that harmful manner that we would call each other out on it. This can help both of us because it can be easy to spiral into bad thoughts when no one is telling you not to have them or say them out loud. We have banded together to fight these thoughts that are not good for either of us, so that change can actually happen.
I started this book expecting the typical “just be happy and relax” language of self-help, but was pleasantly surprised to read Clear’s humorous anecdotes and steps to being a better person. I would recommend this book to anyone, ranging from those who feel as if their life is complete to those who feel as if it is falling apart. It is a guide to developing both a person’s career/professional life and personal life. This encompasses the entirety of life after graduation in one short but informative book.
Finding myself following Clear’s steps throughout the week has solidified this book in my mind. When I reach for a cookie in the fridge for the third time that day, I decide to move them into a drawer to make them less accessible and to break the habit. I have struggled to get assignments done because I am exhausted, but I tell myself that if I finish one of them, I can read my fantasy book for thirty minutes. A reward system works quite well for me, and I have utilized it quite a few times since I read that chapter. I believe that this book is leading me to become a better person one step at a time, and I would recommend it to anyone who feels like they are stuck in an unfulfilling life.
Informational Interview for UH 208:
Gary Cosby knew he wanted to be a firefighter like his father from a very young age. He completed high school, gathered his paperwork, and applied to join the department. When he went into the station for his first interview, the fire chief sat him down with an apprehensive look on his face. Gary was unsure whether the news he was about to say would be good or bad. The chief looked him in the eyes and told him he needed to go to college. He said that Gary had a talent for photojournalism, and he needed to utilize it. If he still wanted to work at the department after he got a degree, he could interview once again and become a firefighter. While in school, Gary found that he loved the fast-paced environment of both sports and news photography. After thirty years in the business, he now resides in Tuscaloosa, working for the Tuscaloosa News as their director of photography.
I chose to speak to Gary because he has been one of my mentors since I came to the University of Alabama. While sitting next to him, covering women’s basketball and football, I realized that he had my dream job. The monthly meetings at his house for other photojournalists in the area further solidified this for me. As I rose higher in The Crimson White, I began to see him at every sport and event I covered. I started to hear his stories and learn his definition of photojournalism. He taught me how to frame a picture better and even how to follow basketball players up to the basket. His knowledge of both journalism and the greater world is highly valuable to me, which is why I decided to interview him.
Gary attended the University of North Alabama and then Regent University to learn the finer aspects of the craft. He spent most of his time in the darkroom learning how to pour chemicals and use an enlarger to develop his film photos. After graduation, he went to work at The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as their chief photographer. He met and married his wife, Patty, and they decided to move back to Alabama. He started as the director of photography for The Decatur Daily and worked there for twenty years. He covered everything from high school and college sports to protests, funerals, and the devastating tornadoes of 2011.
These tornadoes were a turning point for Gary because he had never covered something quite as emotional. That day, he had been photographing smaller storms in the area when he heard about a bigger chain of storms with a significant tornado. He decided to chase them for the photo and stopped his car on a highway median. He says he suffered the most terrifying moment of his entire life when the storm was chasing him down the highway after he got a few frames of it. Once the storm was over, his work was not done. The hardest part of covering a storm was still in front of him: the aftermath. One of Gary’s main rules in journalism is that we are humans first and photojournalists second. He applied this by first asking survivors if they needed assistance. Some yelled at him, some threatened violence, but some wanted their voices and stories to be heard. Gary took pictures of those people and helped them find car keys and pets, as well as dug through the rubble of homes to free a woman and her two children stuck in a storm shelter.
After an extensive number of years at The Decatur Daily, Gary moved to Tuscaloosa. He started his job as the director of photography and always jokes that he is the director in title only because he is actually their only photographer. This month, he is celebrating ten years of covering all Alabama sports, as well as an absurd amount of news at the Tuscaloosa News. One of his beats there is the new homeowners in Habitat for Humanity houses. These are typically sponsored by Coach Nick Saban and his wife, Terry, and are always emotionally moving. He has also covered many football national championships, as well as playoff wins and losses. If there is an Alabama sporting event, it is likely he will be there. His favorites to shoot include softball and football. He has worked almost every Alabama graduation since he started at T News, including the commencement speech by President Donald Trump last semester.
Throughout the time I have known Gary, he has taught me not only how to take photos but also how to cover tragic breaking news respectfully. His journey in life shows that the trajectory a person doesn’t have to be straight. A person can hit bumps in the road and still keep going. Gary moved from firefighting to photography and excelled at both. He has worked at many newspapers, but has made the same detailed and beautiful work at every one. His multitalentedness, as both an opinion columnist for the newspaper and a prolific author of almost fifteen books, demonstrates the ability for a person to do everything they want to do in life. He is the winner of many awards, including the 2024 photo of the year from the Alabama Press Association for his shot of an Alabama men’s basketball player dunking the ball and celebrating. Despite this, he is extremely humble and generous. He holds monthly meetings at his house for all the young journalists in the area to chat, eat, and share photos, which is caring and thoughtful. He has both the talent and the hard work necessary that make him a successful photojournalist.
Gary’s work and demeanor show me and other young journalists how to be better at our jobs and how to be better people. I hope to be just like him after I graduate. I would like to cover big sports and small sports, and breaking news in the same humble, but beautiful way that he does.