Karthik Krishnamurthy wants to understand the world and how people work, and help others do the same.
“I’m always reflecting on how to be the best version of myself,” the 16-year-old junior from Westview High School said.
This led Karthik to his dream of becoming a journalist.
His interest in journalism was sparked by a fifth-grade spelling bee. Karthik won his classroom competition, then his schoolwide bee and then won again at the county level. He trained and practiced all summer for the state championships, where he came in first.
It was exciting, Karthik said, but more important was the lesson he learned.
“I learned hard work pays off. It made me more confident,” Karthik said.
When he was young, Karthik’s family would take month-long summer trips to Chennai in southern India. When he got bored, he read the daily newspapers his grandparents subscribed to, including sections on the NFL, college football and the NBA. As he read more, his interest in journalism grew.
He wants to write stories that are both creative and accurate, to ensure people trust journalists. In the future, Karthik’s dream is to report on sports, a passion sparked by his grandparent’s newspapers, and on politics, so that he can help people get informed and involved. He hopes to spread more truth to the world through journalism.
“The purpose of a journalist is to kind of be like an extension of people’s eyes and ears,” Karthik said.
— Dakota Hill, McNary High School
This story was produced by student reporters as part of the High School Journalism Institute, an annual collaboration among The Oregonian/OregonLive, Oregon State University and other Oregon media organizations. For more information or to support the program, go to oregonlive.com/hsji.