Brooklyn Works Harder BRISTOW, OK GRAD, BROOKLYN WAYLAND IN WASHINGTON, D.C. by JOSH HARRINGTON
Brooklyn having some fun at the Washington Monument in D.C.
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The press should be a watchdog for the American people against the government, University of Oklahoma student Brooklyn Wayland pointed out.
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10 THE CORRIDOR MAGAZINE / MAY 2020
Being a journalist is one of the most thankless and unforgiving occupations to which someone could ever subject themselves. It is also inherently critical to the survival of our democracy in the United States. Without unbiased journalism, how would earth-shattering revelations like Watergate have been brought to light? How would the American populace stay informed of crony capitalism and nepotism commonplace in government? How would our media avoid falling to projections supplied by a politburo, akin to the news in Soviet Russia or Communist China today? “The press should be a watchdog for the American people against the government,” University of Oklahoma student Brooklyn Wayland pointed out. Ms. Wayland is not merely a journalism student. She’s been in the thick of politics and humanities for as long as she can remember, and she has a keen interest in bringing the latest and most pressing revelations to light. What I remember most about Brooklyn in high school was that she was very involved and very driven to succeed. She was at every football game, every school concert, every school play, and always wearing her bright, beaming smile. I recently caught up with my longtime friend to flip the script and interview the interviewer. Brooklyn is the daughter of Mike and Cindy Wayland of Bristow; Mike is the Principal at Cushing High School and Cindy is the Counselor at Edison Elementary School in Bristow, but you can also catch her with a camera on the sideline under the Friday Night Lights. Brooklyn and her brother, Tyler, graduated from Bristow High School in 2017 and 2019, respectively, and they are now both going on to pursue their collegiate endeavors. Brooklyn currently attends the University of Oklahoma in Norman where she is enrolled at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Despite her rather fiery passion for journalism evident in our discussion, as well as her ambitions to work for the New York Times or the Washington Post, she wasn’t always sure that’s what she wanted to do. “The first time I wanted to be a journalist was when I read a piece on the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, and the experience of reading something I didn’t remember at all, seeing photos, and hearing the personal stories of the victims was intriguing to me. I think it’s amazing that I could feel like I was there even though I wasn’t.”
