Jessica Lopez was a managing editor for Ethic News and a sophomore staff writer during its inaugural year.

Lopez says, “Being one the first people to start Ethic was great! I still remember there only being a total of three of us on the CV side. It’s amazing seeing how much it has grown.”

Lopez attended Citrus Valley High School and also participated in cross country, track, mock trial and Octagon Club.

She says, “Joining Ethic really helped me develop my communication skills, as well as developing a level of professionalism. Weirdly enough, having experience in a telepresence class helped the transition to Zoom University a lot easier.”

After graduating high school, Lopez attended Crafton Hills College for two and a half years. While attending Crafton, she joined the student senate and was the Vice President of Academic Affairs for a year.

She also staged managed four plays for the theatre department just for fun, saying, “I needed something fun to do that didn’t involve my major.”

Once she was done at Crafton, she transferred to Chapman University in Spring of 2021 to finish her degree in political science and ended up adding a minor in Latinx and Latin American studies. Upon transferring, she joined Kappa Alpha Pi, a pre-law co-ed Fraternity on campus. Since joining the fraternity, she has held the Historian position.

At Chapman University, Lopez says, “I also helped establish a Transfer Student Club.My friend Lydia and I are currently Co-Presidents for the club.”

While Lopez originally planned on attending law school right after earning her bachelor’s degree, she says, “I think might take a small break from school. If I don’t end up going to law school, I plan on working for an organization that deals with human rights and the border.”

Her message to current journalism students is, “Have fun with it! Also don’t be afraid to write what you want to write about, I’m sure you’ll have a group of people that will support you.”

Last updated 2022