Ella Madrak is a dedicated high school musician who wants to use her journalism skills in the future to spread the truth.

Q: Who or what inspires you the most in your life? 

A: My whole family is very musical so I’ve grown up in an environment where I’ve been encouraged to go for things both musically and in school. If I didn’t have my family, I would lack that intrinsic motivation to do well.

Q: How would you describe the current state of the world? 

A: Although we’re pretty divided, I feel that there are events that unify us as a nation. The recent inauguration brought us more together than I’ve felt in a long time; just with the musical guests, it was cool to see people who we haven’t seen in a long time work with the government.

Q: What type of role do you think journalism plays within our society?

A: Journalism is very necessary, but people find things that are false and go off of that. Telling the truth is vital because if we can’t trust where our news, then what can we trust? If you’re constantly living in a mindset where everything you hear is false, you’re never going to learn anything.

Q: What do you hope to gain out of journalism class?

A: I’ve always loved journalism and I’ve always wanted to get good at it, but I never had the chance. If I get a better sense of how to interview and how to write articles, then I would be happy.

Q: If you were an influential person, how would you try to enact changes to make the world better?

A: If I could go to a small area or even a large area and truly understand what the problems are, I would be able to work on that better than if I had felt stressed. Being in one spot would make it a lot less daunting.