Emma Li

11th March 2025

Transgender athlete ban sparks fairness and inclusivity debates

by Tiffany Zhu and Claire Xu
Best of SNO

I first became aware of this order as I scrolled on the New York Times. Immediately, I knew our section needed to report on it. During the sourcing process, Claire and I worked together to brainstorm people who could speak to both the sports and transgender perspectives. The interviews we conducted were truly eye-opening. Writing the article challenged me as I conducted thorough research on the policy in order to report on it to the best of my abilities. I wanted to do the topic justice and spread awareness, and in the end, I believe we did just that.

4th March 2025

Meet your staff: Bringing stories to life

by Tiffany Zhu and Minal Jalil

I was very excited to take on this article because I had taken his cooking class back in middle school. I was hoping he would talk about it in his interview, and he did! It was an extremely full-circle moment. This article challenged Minal and me as we sought to string all his different interests in acting, teching, and cooking together. Eventually, we found that teaching and interacting with his students was the string that tied his passions together, and that became our guide to writing the feature.

Emma Li

5th February 2025

From sports courts to controversy: Professional athlete idealization creates harmful youth mindset

by Tiffany Zhu and Lily Shi

This topic was one that I cared deeply about because I had seen the issue pervasive throughout social media. I appreciated going through the process of doing thorough research when writing this article.

Provided by Chris Booth | Edge of Adhesion

18th January 2025

Fueling dreams full throttle: Eric Liu (’06) fosters learning and relationships on racing track

by Tiffany Zhu

I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to write a profile on an alum who now does car racing. It's such a unique sport, and that uniqueness shined during the interview. Not only did I love the interview I conducted with him, but I also really enjoyed interviewing one of his car racing friends. Immediately after the interview, I knew I would use his love of learning and teaching to connect his story. Putting the piece together took trial and error, but in the end, with patience, it turned out great.

19th December 2024

Annual holiday Big Assembly Day showcases performing arts student talent

by Tiffany Zhu and Lily Peng

I've always loved covering A&E productions because of all the excitement and beautiful scenes happening on stage. Because A&E productions repeat themselves year to year, I always strive to make my briefs about productions different and focused on unique aspects or different angles.

11th October 2024

From academics to athletics: Staff take on dual roles

by Tiffany Zhu and Leah Krupnik

This was one of the first articles I wrote as a Sports Editor with a new reporter. I loved the experience of taking another reporter under my wing and seeing the distinctive perspective she added to the piece.

7th October 2024

San Jose residents talk criminal justice, prison reform at community forum

by Tiffany Zhu and Jonathan Szeto
Best of SNO

I was nervous to cover this event since it was off-campus, and I had never experienced a public forum before. But once I was there, I immediately felt immersed in the conversation, and I was inspired by both the speakers and attendees at the event. I'm glad to see that since Jonathan and I first went to this event, there has been more coverage of local protests/town halls.

20th September 2024

Staging productions through possibilities: Technical theater empowers students to explore diverse backstage roles

by Tiffany Zhu
Best of SNO

Although I had many unique sources for this article, when I began writing, I had difficulty creating a solid line for a story. With outside help, I was able to find that story of tech theater opening many paths for students. This article was one where the thorough interviews beforehand truly guided my writing.

17th September 2024

Apex: Discipline over discomfort

by Tiffany Zhu and Aryana Bharali

I was very excited to work on this piece since this player is one who is just so amazing at his sport. He gave phenomenal quotes in the interview, and our writing did not really do him justice. So then, my co-writer and I tried to reflect his way of speaking in our writing but that created a superfluous article. In the end, with several drafts, we were able to find that balance between highlighting his achievements and letting his own quotes shine.

11th May 2024

Taylor Swift shares poetic poignancy in “The Tortured Poet’s Department”

by Tiffany Zhu, Ashley Mo, and Kairui Sun

As a big Swiftie, I was very excited to formally share my thoughts on her newest album (and my favorite album). I really enjoyed stating my own opinions in an engaging manner that would also encourage readers to give the album a listen.

3rd May 2024

Tech industry layoffs incite uncertainty in post-pandemic world

by Tiffany Zhu

This topic was one that directly affected my family friends. Journalism gives me the platform to share information that truly affects us, and this article made that very clear. I knew it was also going to be a difficult topic to write about because individuals often don't like to admit that they were laid-off. Because of this, I had an anonymous source and made sure I had all the proper approval to include the source's quotes.

11th April 2024

Back to the bases: Varsity softball team returns and revamps for first season in two years

by Tiffany Zhu and Mia Tang

The first interview I did for this piece was with Head Coach Rios. During the interview, he expressed his excitement for the feature countless times, and that really reinforced my love for journalism. I joined journalism to tell stories that wouldn't other be told, and I did just that with this article.

Emma Milner

29th March 2024

Spirit Week Day 5: Juniors sweep spring rally

by Tiffany Zhu and Emma Milner

The turnaround time for this article was amazing. We were able to get it out the night of the spirit rally while also adding in-depth coverage of the event and quotes from diverse sources.

Illustration by Young Min, Photos by Margaret Cartee and provided by Tiana Salvi

28th March 2024

Creativity builds cultural bridges: Students connect to their cultures through artistic expression

by Tiffany Zhu

Each of the stories I told in this article was very different, but I aimed to just let the quotes and individuals themselves shine. My writing transitioned between the sources and gave further information, but ultimately, the cultural stories carried the piece forward.

12th January 2024

Athletes run down the clock against climate change

by Tiffany Zhu and Claire Zhao
Best of SNO, Stories of the Year: 2023-2024

This article put together two topics I care deeply about (sports and the environment). I really enjoyed working with Claire to get diverse sources and ultimately connect all those sources together with in-depth research. I'm glad it got recognition for the effort we put into it as well.

10th December 2023

Revving up unity: Formula One broadens fanbase through competition and collaboration

by Tiffany Zhu

I loved working on this article because I had been a fan of Formula 1 for years. As a new assistant Sports Editor, I was excited to report on a unique sports topic that I really cared about. When I first started sourcing for this article, I struggled to find people to interview because I thought the fanbase for Formula 1 was so small. But with help from other journalism members, I was able to find several sources with different perspectives.