Ria Lowenschuss
Writer, Reporter, Editor-in-Chief
Opinion and Narrative
This piece won second place for opinion writing in the NSPA Clips and Clicks contest.
Access at Risk
In the first ever article that I wrote for The Communicator, I explored accessible birth control and how it affects teens. When this article was written, Justice Amy Coney Barrett had just been appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. This posed a threat for the Affordable Care Act and, in extension, accessible birth control. As a person who uses birth control to stop my debilitating period cramps, accessible birth control — and reproductive health in general – is an issue that will always be important to me.
This piece received third place for human interest feature in the 2021 MIPA Awards.
This piece received an honorable mention for diversity coverage in the 2021 MIPA Awards.
Election 2020: Looking Forward
Along with The Communicator's three other columnists, I wrote a column on the 2020 Election from the perspective of my column. As the gender and sexuality columnist, I wrote about the "rainbow wave" of LGBTQ+ candidates that won their elections. This was an uplifting topic to write about, especially after four years of the Trump Administration slowly eroding LGBTQ+ rights in America.
What Comes Next?
In response to the Jan. 7 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, I wrote this narrative piece. It was a good way to organize my thoughts and emotions about what had happened. Writing should be an outlet and a piece of history. I hope that in the future, when people look back on the attempted coup on Jan. 7, 2021, they will view this narrative piece as a remnant of history.
Expression and Identity in Isolation
During the isolation that came with the Covid-19 pandemic, I noticed that many of my friends were questioning their gender. When one of them told me that she preferred she/they pronouns, I knew I needed to write an article on the many teenagers discovering their gender during lockdown. I talked to my peers on how they present their gender, how their gender expression changed during the pandemic, and how they were moving forwards. I really enjoyed writing this piece and inserting my opinion into it.
My Right to Marriage
I wrote this narrative about my experiences with gay marriage as a queer woman, and how it has affected me throughout my life. I wrote about Supreme Court decisions and State constitutions, as well as queer people throughout the centuries. This piece helped me learn more about the queer community and let me see the fragility of my rights.
This piece won second place for personal narrative in the 2021 MIPA Awards.
Un-Traditions
The day before I started my junior year of high school, my best friend and I went out for ice cream. It was supposed to be celebratory, an anticipatory treat for all the hard work we were about to do. Instead, we were harassed by a stranger while we were waiting in line. This has happened before. Men comment on our bodies constantly. How does this affect us and our sense of control over ourselves?
We Must Protect Children
In October 2021, my sister tested positive for Covid-19. Although we had been living in a pandemic for almost two years, it was still a shock. No one in my family had gotten sick and we felt disconnected from the threat, although we got vaccinated as soon as possible and wore masks from the beginning. This piece describes my family's experience in quarantine and how adults' refusal to get vaccinated and wear masks negatively impacts children.
To Submit or Not to Submit
In our first print edition for the 2021-2022 school year, I wrote an opinion piece on standardized testing and how colleges' test-optional policies were affecting high school students. I did a lot of research into the racial and sexual biases of the SAT, and how they created an inequitable testing environment. As a high school junior myself when I wrote this, I was extremely stressed about the SAT and college. Learning more about how prejudiced these tests are helped ease my stress, and I hope it helped others too.
This piece won first place for opinion writing in the 2022 NSPA Clips and Clicks competition.
We Will Be Next
On Wednesday morning, I woke up to nineteen dead children and two dead teachers. I woke up to another morning of going to school in the wake of a school shooting, wondering if I will be next. That Wednesday, I had journalism as my first class, and all I did was sit and write this piece in order to process my feelings, especially my anger.
Reproductive Justice From a Queer Woman's Perspective
I wrote this piece at a time when I was feeling helpless, desperate and alone. Roe v. Wade was on the verge of being overturned and I had no idea how to help or what to do. So I put my feelings onto the page. I wrote from my perspective as a queer woman, as a person that is unlikely to ever need an abortion in my lifetime. I wrote about my anger and the injustice and hopefully, this piece helped at least one person who was feeling the same way as me.
Turning Point
This article is part of a series that our entire staff wrote about turning points in my life. When we wrote them, I was about to turn eighteen. I wrote about the past year of my life — what I'd expected would happen and what had actually come to pass. I focused on the loss of a treasured relationship and how it had affected me.
My Journey Into Reading
I was raised by a mother who loves words of all kind and who has shared her infatuation with stories with me since I was born. Now, I am a voracious reader, in large part because of her. In this personal narrative, I explore the beginning of my love for reading and how I have used it to connect with my mom.
Past to Future
My grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. His parents died in Auschwitz and he immigrated to Philadelphia when he was eight years old, in the beginning of the 1940s. This experience has defined my family's relationships and minds, and I use this narrative to describe how it has affected me.