Shehreen Karim’s journey into journalism

Shehreen Karim remembers writing her first article in 11th grade. She remembers the connection she felt as she interviewed a teacher at her school who gained citizenship after spending his childhood undocumented.

Since then, the Grover Cleveland Charter High School graduate has continued to write about social justice issues as a student journalist. Now, as an intern for L.A. Times High School Insider, she enjoys learning about the journalism field and covering South Asians in the LGBTQ community.

“It’s a bigger platform for me to share my articles and to get a larger audience, and they have more resources,” Karim said.

Her friend Elliott Hyon, who also graduated from Grover Cleveland Charter High School in June, said he appreciates her passion for telling hidden stories.

“She always wants to highlight stories of marginalized communities and share information on groups of people that the news cycle tends to ignore,” Hyon said.

Prearna Ahmed, a friend who also graduated this year, said she likes how Karim writes a lot about the LGBTQ community and feminism.

“I like Shehreen’s energy and dedication that she puts into her journalism work,” Ahmed said. “She always takes constructive criticism well, and she really puts her all into the stories she writes about.”

Karim, who grew up in Reseda, wants to continue pursuing journalism in college. She will attend Pierce College in the fall and hopes to eventually transfer to UC Berkeley.

“Shehreen is an activist, and she cares about others,” Ahmed said. “She has a positive and carefree energy that makes you feel like you can tell her anything.”

Hyon believes Karim will go far because she always cares about what she writes about.

“Shehreen is a resilient and bubbly person,” he said. “She’s always the bigger person through situations. She always finds her way around tough obstacles, and she tends to always have a smile on her face.”