Thread by @mallory_yu

It’s the final hours of 2018, so I’m going to reflect a bit.

This year was Hard. It was, honestly, the type of year where I wondered if I wanted to make it to the next. I felt like a stuck gear, gummed up with anxiety and self-doubt, chronic pain and depression. 1/

The year seemed to pass in an interminable, disassociated haze of pain, so it’s easy, then, to wonder “did I really do anything? Did I accomplish anything?”

But I did! I did so much. 2/

At the beginning of the year, my goal was to have five (5) NPR bylines.

I’m ending the year with 22.

I won’t share all of them, but here are some highlights. 3/

My first piece this year was an interview I did with @iamRuthECarter who designed the #BlackPanther costumes. This was a piece I’d wanted to do since I saw the first trailer for the movie so long ago. 4/

npr.org/2018/02/16/586…

The second was a profile I did of @actordougjones - I was nervous because I’d been such a big fan of his for so long, but he was gracious, funny and charming. And it was gratifying to finally be able to hear HIS voice when so often we aren’t. 5/
npr.org/2018/03/03/590…

When I read Children of Blood and Bone, I knew I had to talk to @tomi_adeyemi about it. So I did. 6/
npr.org/2018/03/09/592…

I didn’t voice this one about a police force’s 4/20 tweets, BUT I had a lot of fun reporting and writing it! I think you can tell. 7/
npr.org/2018/04/18/603…

Then I had the bejesus scared out of me watching #HEREDITARY - so I interviewed director @AriAster about why exactly this movie was so gd scary. It kicked off a mild obsession with horror, which has opened up a whole new world of film for me. 8/
npr.org/2018/06/11/618…

I went to SDCC this year, reported three stories from there, AND managed to keep a Con diary with @petramatic which we updated daily. Regular con attendees will appreciate how hard that is to do.
AND we cosplayed. 9/
npr.org/2018/07/21/631…

I cried doing this interview with @Emilferrisdraws - whose horror comic ‘My Favorite Thing Is Monsters’ is one of my favorites of all time. We talked ~at length~ about all the things that make us feel monstrous. 10/
npr.org/2018/08/03/635…

I interviewed @TanekaStotts about the ‘Elements’ anthology, about inclusive representation and being a voice for change. This story also includes my favorite editor’s note to date. 11/
npr.org/2018/12/21/677…

I also interviewed @TillieWalden about her Eisner-winning graphic memoir ‘Spinning’ and her luminous, beautiful, expansive ‘On A Sunbeam.’ 12/
npr.org/2018/12/24/678…

.@ailsachang and I went to Arizona and reported two stories in three days. One on healthcare and one on the changing demographics of the state. I created a rather masterful (if I do say so myself) waterfall of audio for the second, linked here 13/
npr.org/2018/10/19/658…

Not only that, I was on @pchh not only once but TWICE, to talk about movies that meant a lot to me: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and ‘Into the Spider-Verse.’ 14/

Those are professional accomplishments.

Personal achievements: I traveled more this year than I ever have before. Utah (Sundance), Kauai and Maui, San Diego, Atlanta, Savannah, Phoenix, all over the Philippines. 15/

A big one: I introduced my parents to my girlfriend, and I officially came out to the rest of my extended, conservative family. 16/

I helped bring to fruition a mentorship group for WOC at NPR, with a group of women I’m honored to be friends and colleagues with @christinacala @katchow @AnjuliSastry - we had NO idea what we were doing, but we worked hard and we Did The Thing.

So yeah, this year was a giant mess, but maybe it wasn’t as big a mess as Depression would have me believe. 17/

I’ve got big goals for 2019. To write more for fun, to continue pushing myself to be a better, more thoughtful critic/producer/reporter/editor. Sleep more. Have more fun.

And always, be fully, solely myself and damn what anyone else thinks.

So long, 2018. Hello, 2019. /fin