I’ll keep it short and simple because I could write a whole book on my Daily Bruin experience.
I walked through the doors of Kerckhoff almost every day. I was involved in a lot during college, but nothing will have a place in my heart (or take as much of my time) as the Daily Bruin.
I applied last-minute, and my goal was to write an article or two a quarter, especially when balancing a busy pre-med life. Yet, I had no idea how far this journey would take me.
Somewhere along the way, the Daily Bruin became less of something I did and more of where I lived.
I found myself spending what felt like 40 hours a week in the newsroom, reading Slack messages, on calls or thinking about the next story while I was supposed to be doing something else. Covering the Palestine solidarity encampment showed me how much student journalism mattered to me in real time and became part of why I wanted to apply for editorship.
Coverage of the January 2025 Los Angeles County fires raised the urgency of what we did while research cuts, elections and breaking news taught me that the work was never just about getting words on a page. It was about showing up when campus needed people to pay attention.
I want to thank the news team I worked with for both of my years as an editor. I learned so much from you nine, and I will forever cherish the memories we made – whether it be up late at night because of USAC elections, the presidential election, LA County fire coverage, encampment coverage, our thousands of Slack messages or the many trips we went on.
There are three things I’m proud of:
1) I’m most proud of starting the UCLA monthly health Q&As with physicians and the special recognition we received from UCLA Health. We started with Dr. Mediget Teshome for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2024, and this series will have my heart and has helped both me and my contributors talk to the coolest people ever.
2) I’m proud of science and health special projects and meetings with the multimedia sections. I was scared at first, especially about whether what we planned fit what I envisioned. The constant meetings, the scary deadlines and frequent revisions turned into something that was beautiful and important for the ages.
3) I’m also proud of teaching and meeting so many new people. Over time, I realized one of the most meaningful parts of the role was helping writers (and myself) become more confident in their own instincts. There was so much joy in watching contributors grow from asking what angle they should take to pitching sharper questions, thinking quickly in interviews and writing stories in ways I never could have imagined. Most of them became better than me and that is exactly what I hoped for. They made the work more fun, more thoughtful and more alive.
Science and health journalism have always been overlooked. It is treated as too technical, too niche or too separate from the rest of student life. But I’m glad I had the privilege of expanding the mission of giving visibility to some of the most important stories. I hope we helped make those stories feel more visible and more urgent.
Whether through Q&As, special projects, research coverage or the everyday stories my writers pursued, I am proud that we showed how science and health journalism can be creative, human and deeply connected to not only UCLA but the national level as well.
This is a mission I will never stop pursuing and will bring with me as I enter the next chapter of my life.
My goal was to bring more respect to what we do on South Campus. Anna Dai-Liu, I hope I made you proud. Thank you for everything you taught me.
I walked into Kerckhoff as a boy trying to find his place.
I leave with a newsroom that taught me how to care more deeply about the world and gave me friendships I will carry far beyond UCLA, in this lifetime and whatever comes after.
Thomas was the 2025-26 science and health editor. He was previously the 2024-25 science and health editor. He was also a Copy, Enterprise, Illustrations and Photo contributor.
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