So, who exactly is Marcy Menzes?
For starters, I am a proud Chicagoan who was born and raised on the West Side in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, gaining an interest in journalism later on in my life in my junior year of high school after being encouraged to do so by one of my English teachers who praised my writing capabilities.
After my first year at DePaul University, I found security after applying for a staff writer role at 14 East Magazine, a student-led publication at DePaul, which helped kickstart my journalism career by providing me an entryway to gaining the vital experience I would need to get my name out there, further cultivate growth in my skillset, and begin networking in order to build a reputation for my journalistic talents.
On top of being an effective communicator who keeps their projects organized through a collection of Notes, Google Docs, Voice Memos, and my personal whiteboard I use, I am someone who enjoys taking up editorial work, photography, organizational work, protest coverage, investigative work, and any pitch that needs to be covered by someone in the newsroom.
I recognize that, in the modern landscape of journalism, you cannot just be another 2D reporter who's only capable of being a reporter which is why I value continuing to build on my current skillset by building on what I am already proficient in and adding on more areas of expertise that I can highlight in my portfolio.
With my journalism, I hope to be able to provide my readers with accurate news that is both hard-hitting and light-hearted. Readers deserve to be well-informed about local and nationwide politics as well as other major news which affects them, yes, but also deserve to know about local events which they can attend in order to better support their community, get outside, and engage with local communities. Readers, as much as journalists, deserve to have a balance in what news is being reported as to avoid being slammed with an overwhelming dosage of reality and a lot of the hard-hitting news that makes up major publications.