Freshman Liyana Fekade is beginning her first year as a journalism student and reporter for Aquila. This year, Fekade’s extracurricular activities include tennis, track and cheer. She was motivated to try out for UPA’s cheer team by the quote, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” She also enjoys hiking and photography. She hikes with her family for the scenery and exercise, her favorite hiking spot being Yosemite. Fekade practices photography at family events and at her church. Her family and her religion, Ethiopian Orthodox, are very important to her, helping her when she feels doubt or sadness. In the future, Fekade hopes to go to school as a pre-medical student and have a minor in English literature. She is interested in neuroscience and biomedical science as potential career options. Fekade has heard reputable things about the pre-medical program and campus at UC Irvine, so she would like to see herself going there in the future. In others, Fedake values empathy, sometimes getting disappointed when others don’t put in the effort to understand the people around them. So far, throughout her life, she has lived in California, Canada and Texas, so she has had experiences with many different demographics. Because of this, she values different perspectives and tries not to make assumptions about others. She hopes to carry these values into her reporting in Aquila. She is interested in broadcasting, podcasting, writing about people’s lives and sharing every side of the story. She would also like to report on the rise of artificial intelligence and how it has led people to try and take the easy way out through the use of generative AI applications.