Prize of the paper

Each year, 10 students who exhibit excellence in journalism receive $10,000 apiece for one academic year—part of the Scripps Howard Foundation’s effort to support the free press. This year, Chico State’s Sharon Yep is one of the honored 10. Yep, 20, is the managing editor of The Orion, Chico State’s student newspaper. Universities from around the country received one application each; professor Glen Bleske, chairman of Chico State’s Journalism Department, picked Yep. She has worked for The Orion for three semesters, as well as the newspaper at her high school in San Francisco, and had an internship at The Union Democrat in Sonora. The professional journalists who judged the Top Ten Scholarship competition called this year’s winners—including students from Northwestern, Michigan State and the University of Missouri—the future “stars in media.”

How does it feel to be named one of the top 10 scholars in the nation and to win $10,000?

It will definitely look good on my resume. It was weird the day I won it. I got a bunch of e-mails from professors telling me congratulations. I just got done filling out all this paperwork I had to send in before they send me any checks. They’ll be sending me two $5,000 checks, one per semester. I’ll be spending it on school; I really want to get a new computer, one of the new Macs.

How did you become The Orion’s managing editor?

I started on The Orion my sophomore year, as a lowly copy editor. I was the lowest of the low, editing advertisements. Then, after I had worked there for a while, the opportunity arose for me to become an entertainment writer, and I felt if they needed someone that I could do it. It was a pretty fun position; I got to interview Flogging Molly, which was pretty cool. After that semester, I applied for entertainment editor. I felt I could do a good job as the managing editor, so I applied this semester. It’s cool being the managing editor—I catch a lot of things as the last line of defense.

Have you always wanted to be a journalist?

During high school, I began researching the best college newspapers around the country. I looked at schools like Columbia, which has one of the best programs. My uncle went to Chico State and he recommended it to me. Immediately I was blown away by all the awards The Orion had won. I chose Chico for its balance of proximity and education.

What are your goals for the future?

I might apply to be chief copy editor next semester, but I don’t know. After college, I want to copy edit at a medium to large newspaper. I don’t really care where in America; it would be awesome to jump around from city to city as a copy editor. When I interned at The Union Democrat in Sonora, about an hour or two north of Yosemite, I worked as a general assignment reporter, but I really focused on how the editing process works. With that experience and The Orion, I want to travel and be able to work wherever a copy editor is needed.