Photo by Claudia Ceja Welcome, I’m Natasha. I am a senior journalism major and photography minor at the University of La Verne, graduating in Spring 2019. I aspire to attend graduate school to earn my masters degree in Journalism, specifcally from the USC Annenberg program. After my education, I want to be a magazine writer covering Native American culture and issues through feature writing and profiles. I enjoy narrative writing and hard news photography.
Currently, I am the Editor in Chief of La Verne Magazine and Photography Editor for the Campus Times. I am also interning at Cafe con Libros, a community center and bookstore in Pomona, to help establish their community oral history project.
I use a Nikon D7200 and D60 with a Nikon 18-55mm, Nikon 70-300 lens and a Tamron 18-300mm lens. I also occasionally shoot with Nikon 30mm and 50mm lenses. I use a Wacom Intuous tablet to create my cartoons and graphics.
Journalism is my life. I have been doing yearbook or newspaper every school year since the fifth grade. It was in the eighth grade that I decided going to J-school was for me. In highschool, I took Journalism I-IV, helping to pioneer the school’s news media site. I became a section editor as a freshman and Editor-in-Chief my junior year. In December of 2014, I was accepted early to the University of La Verne and began my studies as a journalism major the next fall. At ULV, I served as a staff writer, copy editor, Arts editor, editorial cartoonist, photographer and photography editor for the newspaper. I also served as a staff writer, staff photographer and editor in chief of La Verne’s city magazine.
Outside of school, I enjoy going to Disneyland with my family and boyfriend, attending San Jose Sharks games, and attending local cultural or community events. I like to make crafts, like candles and Mickey ears, and sell them at local craft fairs. I’m very proud of winning ULV’s mini maker fair this past spring.
Photo by Kayla Salas I am interested in writing about Native American history and local art. For my senior project, I am proposing to write, photograph and design a magazine featuring local native tribes. My father grew up on the Cahuilla reservation, and after a landscape photography class field trip to Joshua Tree (formally part of the Cahuilla territory) this past winter, I became interested in revisting my native roots. I was inspired by the petroglyphs and hope to one day get special permission to document and research the remaining glyphs that are not available to the public.
