My first inkling of wanting to become a journalist was in middle school.

Students representing various extracurricular activities from the high school were visiting one of my classes to give incoming freshmen a taste of what high school life could be like the following year, and the only thing that caught my interest was writing for the student newspaper.

I have always loved writing, and journalism seemed like a good way to do that for a living.

Since that revelation, my journalistic adventures have taken me from the Seattle-area suburb that is the Edmonds School District, to the University of Washington, to Southeast Idaho and back to the Pacific Northwest. I spent a year freelancing before ending up as the reporter at the Redmond Reporter, which is owned by Sound Publishing, and covering that community for six and a half years.

All of that has brought me to this point as the new editor of the Kirkland Reporter, also owned by Sound Publishing.

It is a big title, and it is not something I take lightly. I will do my best to cover the community alongside reporter Catherine Krummey and tell your stories.

While I was reporting on Redmond, I made it a point to try and highlight groups and communities who may not always receive regular (or accurate and balanced) media coverage. This has always been something that is important to me as an Asian American woman, having grown up and not seen or read about many people who looked like me or shared similar experiences.

My goal is to bring this to the Kirkland community, so if you feel a particular group or community’s story needs to be shared with the world (or at least our corner of it), I encourage you to reach out and let me know at spak@kirklandreporter.com.

And although I got into journalism to be able to write for a living, I have since learned that this job is so much more than just writing. There are many things that can be said about journalism, but one saying that has always stuck with me is that journalism is the first draft of history.

And that is why I take my new role as editor of this publication so seriously and promise to do my best to fill former editor Matt Phelps’ shoes — even if I may not do things the same way he did.

It’s our job as journalists to record a community’s history as it happens. Because if we don’t do it, who will?