In the CSUN Regional Write-Offs competition, attending students were broken into smaller groups that related to their journalism article type, whether it would be Sports, Opinion, Feature, Novice News, or Photography. For the Novice News category specifically, one of the attending CSUN journalism students gave a 12 minute presentation about their experiences traveling to Uvalde Texas in relation to the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School Shooting. 

The prompt for the high school writers in this category was to write an article about this experience described by the presenter, including potential insights, emotions, and perspectives that were gleaned while reporting on the situation. Each student was given a fact sheet and a rubric regarding what the judges were looking for in the article they wrote, specifically, the lead, reporting quality, writing, attribution, and editing. 

Following the short presentation, it became open for a brief Q&A section to gain any other necessary information. Most importantly, students had one hour to write this article of around 350 words. Furthermore, usage of the internet was not allowed. Everything written on the submitted article must have come from either the given fact sheet about school shootings or the presentations. 

First place story by Dana Injan below:

“Get over it. Forget about it.”

Those are the words that were said to parents when their children were killed in the deadliest U.S. school shooting since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. When journalism students from Cal State Northridge visited Uvalde Texas to cover the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting, they were met with the onslaught of divided emotions from parents and community members alike. Through their experience, it is clear that the city of Uvalde is torn. 

“They did not feel ‘Uvalde Strong’.” Recounts Rodrigo Hernandez, one of the journalism seniors covering the story.  

The mass shooting reignited debates about gun reform and school safety, and with that, Hernandez and the journalism team was able to interview Brett Cross, one of the parents of the victims in the shooting. Cross’ son, Uziyah Garcia was killed with a gunshot wound to the back. Hernandez mentions that Cross has since gotten a tattoo of where the bullet had hit his son on his own back as well. 

One of the most powerful actions that Hernandez had witnessed included Cross’ testament at one of the community hearings regarding the topic of gun control and reform. “He lifted up his shirt and asked the people, ‘If this bullet looks big on me, think about how big it looks on an eight year-old’.”

Hernandez realizes, “If he [Uziyah Garcia] hadn’t died, I wouldn’t be here.” 

The emotional tension of visiting these families is without a doubt an experience to never forget. However, through that experience, Hernandez shares another key takeaway, “We get to come back. I get to see my family. They [the victims] don’t get to go back.”

But while Hernandez and the fellow students remain grateful to be able to return and see their own families again, for the teachers and family members of Uvalde who remain, Hernandez explains, they are “constantly reminded of what’s going on.”