Not only is senior Riley Kelley wanting to take newspaper by storm, she wants to take DC by storm too. Well, probably not right away, but that is a big goal of hers. But for now, it’s all about being Editor in Chief for The Bell Newspaper.
“I knew that I wanted to be apart of Newspaper Staff since the day that the 2013-2014 staff came to my school my eighth grade year,” she said. “Becoming Editor in Chief became a goal of mine that day too.”
Due to the incoming pressure that freshman year had to offer, Kelley decided that Diet Newspaper class-Journalism I- was a safer choice for her. Once Newspaper Adviser Lori Oyler saw her talent, she did everything she could to make Kelley The Bell’s newest reporter.
“Going into Journalism I, I knew that I wanted to be a journalist, but being in Oyler’s class really helped open my eyes to what that means and what I can do with that,” Kelley said. “Oyler pushed me to be on staff even though I was already planning on joining it.
Kelley had big plans when she finally joined staff her sophomore year.
“The thought of being Editor in Chief really excited me,” she said. “Number one I am kind of bossy, number two I knew that being the head of a staff would be a really big deal and an impressive thing to be able to put on a college or job application one day.”
Fast forward to Kelley’s senior year, she has accomplished her goal of being Editor in Chief, but she isn’t stopping there.
“I want to double major in journalism and political science in college,” Kelley said. “I want to write political editorials, cover cool issues like Congress, or maybe even become a lobbyist. That being said, I think there is a chance that I may want to end up living in Washington DC one day.”
As intimidating as Kelley’s big dreams sound, Kelley still describes herself as a really nice and transparent person.
“As far as new staff members being scared to come to me for help, I want every single member of staff to be able to feel like they can talk to me about newspaper or their personal life,” Kelley said. “I love people, I love talking to people and becoming friends with new people. If anyone wants or needs to talk about anything, I want to be that one person that they know that they can always come up to.”
So if you ever need help on how to accurately quote somebody, want to talk about your day or need advice on how to successfully influence legislatures, Riley Kelley is definitely your go-to girl.
