I joined the Reveille to tell stories. As a student photojournalist, I’ve often felt overshadowed by the achievements of others I cover. While I strive for excellence in my work, I doubt those I photograph will ever truly appreciate it.
I covered this season’s Gymnastics 101 exhibition. During the exhibition, I made eye contact with all-around graduate student Kai Rivers who was recovering from injury. So I smiled at her and she smiled back and for the first time, I think in a long time, I was reminded that these athletes are human too.
It’s easy for us students to forget that we go to school with the LSU athletes that we look up to. That they go through their own struggles: from post-graduation plans to daily worries.
As a student photographer at the Reveille, it’s all too easy to overlook the individuals I photograph — to simply see them as subjects of my lens, rather than as individuals with their own stories and significance. Especially when they’re achieving things in real-time that you wish you were experiencing firsthand, like scoring the winning points in a game or executing an unbelievable skill.
I find myself drawn to gymnastics not only because it offers visually stunning moments to capture but also because I see the LSU gymnasts as incredibly authentic in their humanity.
They cheer for each other, they encourage each other, they smile at each other, they cry for each other.
This last example is exactly what happened last year at the NCAA Gymnastics Championship. LSU finished fourth and in that moment, it was hard to find the right angle to capture the moment. The team was in tears. They were wondering what they could have done to be more competitive. They were wondering what they could do next year to win it.
Whether they read this or not, I wanted to personally congratulate the team for their national championship win. Following them these past three seasons has been incredible…to see their growth and accomplishments towards this moment of winning the 2024 NCAA Gymnastics Championship for the first time in LSU’s history.
I never thought I’d develop so much interest in gymnastics as much as I did. I never cared much for sports at LSU, except for maybe women’s soccer. I especially never thought I’d develop so much interest in gymnastics as much as I did.
To the future journalists out there, go out and tell the stories that you love and you’ll no doubt find a part of humanity in it.
The future is bright. Our athletes are going places. We are going to great places too, because we are all part of one big human family capable of greatness.
