Anna Garziera

During my freshman year with The Chronicle, I happened to be the only women’s basketball beat that didn’t have class Tuesdays at noon. Naturally, I got the assignment of attending Kara Lawson’s midweek Zoom press conferences every week. I remember rigorously preparing for those calls and scouring ESPN for trends to find the perfect question to ask Coach Lawson. I realized that was probably over preparation, but I wanted to represent The Chronicle’s name well in my first year with the paper.

Most journalists will tell you that opinion writing is not real journalism. You might be surprised that I sort of agree. At least the kind I’ve been doing for the past three years. For better or for worse, these columns have been my space to vent about my life at Duke. I’ve written about all sorts of things: friends, classes, boyfriends, teachers and most of all, about the books I’ve read during my college career. It’s been cozy, like a one-member book club.

Apr 22, 2026, 10:00 AM I think I joined The Chronicle because I wanted to write food reviews for local restaurants. Ultimately, that did not pan out (I have a wonderful Beli to use for that instead), but the people I emailed convinced me to show up to a Recess meeting. I excitedly picked up a pitch and went to report on a concert. I was young and dumb, and almost got The Chronicle sued by the venue. I had my very first article retracted.