UNC-Chapel Hill senior Asheebo Rojas is The Post's emerging journalist fellow for summer 2022.

Three months ago, as the spring semester was ending at UNC-Chapel Hill, I didn’t know what my summer would be like.

Entering my senior year as a journalism major, I figured it was time to get in a newsroom. I wanted to be in North Carolina, and I wanted to cover sports. Naturally, the News & Observer was my target landing spot, for it was close to school, my friends, and from what I heard, was a great experience.

After months of preparing the application and waiting for a response, I was turned down. My backup plan with Warner Media was also a no, and it was beginning to look like a summer in Chapel Hill or back at home.

Mid-April, I still had hope, attending a virtual internship fair hosted by UNC Hussman Careers. There, I came across The Post editor Herbert L. White, who presented a unique opportunity — covering Charlotte’s Black community.

I reached out, and he told me I would be able to cover sports and any other topics I wanted, which would help diversify my journalism portfolio. Doing that while still being in North Carolina — in a big city as well — seemed perfect. Fast forward three months of numerous stories and experiences, being at The Post has been nothing less than that.

Covering stories no one else would consider made working at The Post perfect for me. What I wrote meant something — it affected lives and brought attention to things usually unnoticed by the media. My reporting on poor living conditions at Parker Heights Apartments is a great example. Black residents weren’t getting their voices heard by property management, and because of the story, their situation began to change for the better. Doing the follow up story and hearing how property management began to take tenants’ concerns more seriously felt rewarding, knowing that my work had a positive impact on the community.

There was also the story on how inflation is affecting the rates of Black hair services, which I reported to educate Black consumers on why getting their hair done is more expensive. I felt like I was doing something right talking to stylists because they showed passion talking about how they’ve fared in this economy. They also told me how important it was for me to tell the story and create an understanding between themselves and their clientele.

Then, there was the sports coverage. In a small newsroom like The Post, I would’ve never imagined sitting in the same room with Panthers head coach Matt Rhule, Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak on draft night, or talking face to face with Charlotte FC players. From covering college sports in my short career, I didn’t think professional work would come anytime soon. Yet, The Post gave me the opportunity to be in those spaces and make whatever I wanted out of it.

If you told me three months ago that I’d be contributing to the Charlotte media discourse about the Baker Mayfield trade or writing four stories leading up to the Duke’s Mayo Classic between North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central, I wouldn’t believe it.

These are experiences that I don’t think I would’ve received had I gone elsewhere. And for that, I’m thankful.

Thank you, Herb White and The Charlotte Post crew, and thank you Charlotte for a wonderful summer. I will be back on Sundays, helping Herb cover your beloved Carolina Panthers.

Asheebo Rojas is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, where is a sports reporter at The Daily Tar Heel and Black Ink magazine.

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