SHARE
COMMENTARY
Snow Forth
Snow Forth speaks while serving as a page for the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Provided)

As early as the fourth grade, I became passionate about leadership. My 9-year-old self thought I was just running to be the grand “vice president of the fourth grade,” but I realized later that our school’s silly little election motivated my involvement with so many endeavors in the future.

As I begin the second semester of my junior year at the University of Oklahoma, I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the OU Capitol Scholars program, which is run by the wonderful Carl Albert Center. As part of this program, students conduct State Capitol-related internships, and I am excited to have landed a paid internship with NonDoc Media focused on reader outreach, content distribution and nonprofit development.

Although I will not be reporting for NonDoc, I am excited to dive more deeply into the field of nonprofit journalism and help this organization make sure those most interested in NonDoc’s State Capitol coverage can easily access important stories. To that end, I will be particularly focused on growing the (free) subscriber base to NonDoc’s:

I also am excited to learn more about the Oklahoma Legislature and its processes. My goal during this internship is to maximize NonDoc’s content distribution to reach more audiences. To be most impactful, journalism organizations must reach an array of concerned citizens, and the State Capitol is full of those.

My background and motivations

As I grew up northwest of the Oklahoma City metro, I became heavily involved in every club available. You could find me at almost any meeting that Yukon High School had to offer, taking on many leadership positions. Although I was constantly busy, I enjoyed working toward improving and progressing my school in order to make it a better place for my peers. I discovered that it was my purpose to help the world around me.

During my senior year, I decided to apply to become a page at the Oklahoma State Capitol, serving for my local legislator: Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader (R-Piedmont). At first, the atmosphere of opportunity felt overwhelming. Watching legislators, lobbyists, citizens and reporters act passionately in the political process sparked my interest about government and allowed me to realize how important it is for our community to understand how the State Capitol works. 

At that moment, I realized what I wanted to do in the future: become a journalist. 

In my eyes, journalists fill one of the most important roles in society. They serve their communities through storytelling in order to educate the public on important information that affects people’s lives. They have the power to change the world based on the stories they decide to tell. 

I want to contribute to that effort. 

To achieve my dream, I am currently attending the University of Oklahoma as a journalism major with a political science minor. Channeling my fourth-grade self, I have continued to be involved in many organizations, such as OU Nightly, the President’s Leadership Class, Crimson Club and Delta Gamma. 

I am looking forward to working with the NonDoc team this spring to grow readership and develop more potential donors. I will be gaining hands-on experience at the Capitol by connecting with legislators and lobbyists to help spread NonDoc’s mission. Also, I am excited to assist in growing engagement on social media platforms and pushing articles to more readers.

On that note, make sure to stay up to date with NonDoc articles by:

And if you want to make my new bosses really happy, don’t forget that nonprofit journalism relies on donations from readers like you.