Dylan Allen | <em>‘Are you a center?’</em>

I still remember my first interview for a class at Cal Poly. I’ve tried to forget it, but I can’t. December of my freshman year, I chose to write a story on Cal Poly’s recent transfers to their basketball program. The final buzzer sounded, and I walked over to the entrance of the locker room […]

Newsflash: I’m not a journalism student, and for most of my time at Cal Poly, Building 26 was never supposed to be my home. In reality, for about 1.5 years, this building represented what my major was mistakenly perceived as. Whenever someone asked me about graphic communications, I had to constantly explain that I was […]

It was difficult to speak. The cloud of words held captive found their only escape in journals, music and other forms of media growing up. As someone who loved medicine and helping people, I majored in biochemistry at Cal Poly,  thinking I’d finally find my voice. Instead, I caught myself doing work just to get […]

I remember the walk to my first Mustang News meeting in winter 2022. I was so excited to be a part of Mustang Media Group after getting rejected in the fall. I made the trek from yakʔitʸutʸu to Graphic Arts (Building 26) during the atmospheric river of 2022. It feels like it was just yesterday.  […]

If you told me a year ago I’d be in tears over graduating college, I would’ve laughed in your face. I’ve always loved school, but I wanted nothing more than to get into the field and begin my career. That is, until I started my position as the MMG Marketing Assistant. On my first day, […]

Two majors in three years is a recipe for chaotic time management, constant anxiety and undercut priorities. Despite fears of burnout, I managed to put on my chef’s hat.  My degrees were the baseline of the meal, more important than secondary components like hiking, creative writing or social events. Mustang News started out as an […]

I can confidently say that during the first half of my sophomore year at Cal Poly, I was stuck in the ultimate “sophomore year slump.” I felt extremely isolated and had a hard time transitioning to living off-campus. However, I found someone who would pull me out for good, who would eventually become my closest […]

For the past four years, I have experienced Cal Poly through a camera lens. Since joining Mustang News freshman year, I’ve spent countless hours carrying camera gear, setting up interviews, editing late into the night and developing a mountain of video journalism skills. And somehow, after all this time, asking strangers for interviews is still […]

If someone had told high school me that I would willingly do the scuba on live television, I would have laughed in their face. I don’t dance, and I would never choose to be on camera. I hated the idea of being perceived. Every Instagram post felt like something I needed to analyze, and I […]

I didn’t step inside the newsroom my first three years of college.  I can’t say exactly that I didn’t feel welcome. Logically, I knew no one was actually going to tell me to leave; and if there was a stare, it would probably be out of curiosity and not judgement.  But any non-affiliated journalism major […]

Most of Mustang News’ staff are journalism majors. They spend every day for years learning how to source, write and edit to produce quality content. It shows up in the great work we do. Not only am I not a journalism major, but I have never even taken a journalism class. I applied to be […]