When I was younger, I wanted to be an author. I had binders full of stories, written on notebook paper in thick No. 2 pencils. I brought notebook paper with me everywhere, writing whenever inspiration struck. On rare occasions, my mom would get out her old MacBook, open Microsoft Word and the folder labeled “Lilly,” and I’d spend hours typing out my stories.
By the time I got to middle school, I’d lost interest in fiction writing. Instead, I picked up a camera and photography, and fell in love with photojournalism. I loved everything about photography: using my creative eye to get unique shots, editing, color grading and working with people. Photography was one of the first things that just clicked for me, and I felt like I’d found my passion.
I started my own business, Lilly Asano Photography, in 2017, offering client photo shoots. I was 13 and scared I wouldn’t be taken seriously. I created an Instagram page and modeled it after photographers I admired, paying close attention to how they interacted with their clients and promoted their brand. It worked. People followed and hired me for my work.
Two years later, I was hired by the equestrian magazine National Horseman as a candid photographer. At the time, I was the youngest photographer they’d employed, and it terrified me. At my first horse show for NH, I was the youngest photographer there by almost 15 years, surrounded by well-known veterans of the sport. I was convinced that the editor who hired me was completely unaware of my age and that it would affect how clients viewed my work.
Over the next four years, I became one of the magazine’s top contracted photographers. I was known for my unique, candid photos and creative eye, and I learned to network with professionals and clients. With college approaching, I was confident I wanted to study communications and media. It seemed like the perfect choice; I loved working with people and was drawn to visual communication mediums.
For almost all of high school, I was convinced that I would end up at either the University of Colorado Boulder or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I grew up in Davidson, N.C., just outside Charlotte, and wanted a new chapter in my life beyond my home state. I’d always loved rugged and towering mountains, but the Blue Ridge Mountains were too familiar.
My parents, who both attended top liberal arts colleges, made it clear to my sister and me that education was not only an expectation but also a privilege. I’d heard their stories at the dinner table growing up, and as my senior year of high school approached, my parents’ anxiety about my college search grew. By the end of my junior year, I was set on Boulder and hadn’t toured any colleges. I was scared of change, and simply put off my college search.
Until my junior year of high school, Colorado College wasn’t on my radar. Most students who graduated from my high school stayed in the immediate vicinity. It wasn’t normal to go so far from home, and most colleges that visited my school for information sessions knew they could attract local students.
My mom was the first person to tell me about CC. She went to Wellesley and Dartmouth College, and knew of people who attended CC. She attempted to explain the Block Plan to me and why she thought I would find it appealing, and we did a little research into the school. I grew up just minutes away from the Davidson College campus and was well acquainted with a small liberal arts college and its environment. But I was steered away from CC for one reason: the acceptance rate. I was sure I would never get into the school.
Less than a month before their first admission deadline, I visited CC for the first time. I fell in love with the campus and school almost immediately. Students were so friendly, and in early October, the campus was vibrantly beautiful. It seemed like the colleges I’d seen in movies, complete with students lounging on the quad and playing hacky sack.
As we got on the exit, headed to our next college tour, I looked at my mom and told her, “I think I want to apply Early Decision here.” Everything about the school seemed perfect, but I was still unsure if I could get in. When we flew back to North Carolina, my college application list had changed dramatically. Instead of 10 schools, I was now only applying to three, with CC at the top of my list.
In December 2022, I was admitted to CC as an ED applicant. I was elated and started planning my college life with one glaring issue: I couldn’t major in Communications.
Instead, I found the Independently Designed Major (IDM) program and decided that it would set me on the right path. The application process looked intense, but I was confident that this was what I wanted to pursue.
I fell into journalism at CC sooner than I’d initially thought. When the second half of my First Year Program was moved from Block 2 to the following semester, I needed a new Block 2 class immediately. Without prerequisites and limited seats in open classes, I decided to take GS286 Political Journalism with Vince Bzdek. I showed up to the first day of class without any journalism writing experience and very little idea of the student journalism landscape on campus.
By the end of our first week of class, I’d caught the journalism bug. I loved writing and caught on to journalist style quickly, and remember asking The Catalyst’s former editor-in-chief, Michael Braithwaite ‘24, about writing for the paper during class one day.
Specifically, I wanted to cover our Division I men’s hockey program and sports, but I thought those beats would be ones I’d have to work my way up to. I had never covered a sports game or was confident in my abilities to do so, but within a week, I was seated in the Ed Robson Arena press box on my first assignment.
I was hooked. I started writing every week, and my appearance in the press box grew more frequent. I picked up other stories and looked for any way to take on more responsibility. In January 2024, I became the sports copy editor, and the following semester, was the sports section editor.
While I’ve loved my role as co-editor-in-chief, my role as sports editor will remain one of my favorite positions. I got to shape the section as I wanted and saw fit, and to emphasize campus game coverage for all sports. I started weaving more intramural and club sports in, but my passion remained in athletic profiles and the stories behind traditional sports headlines. After recording with sports were covered weekly, I realized a number of teams simply weren’t reported on. My solution? The Roar Report has been running weekly since its inception over a year and a half ago.
As the previous EIC tenure came to an end, I realized I wanted a bigger role again. I had the leadership skills, knew how to edit and write for The Catalyst and had a fire under me to do more. The application deadline for the 2025 EICs approached, and I submitted my application.
After I interviewed with our previous EICs, I was confident in my ability to lead our student paper. Still, I didn’t know who my co-EIC would be, and I was nervous about the working dynamic we would have. The role is intense. You spend almost every Wednesday at the publishing House and have to work through conflict, long days and the realities news organizations face in the current political landscape.
Somehow, I got lucky enough to not only become one of our publication’s EICs, but also got to do it alongside one of my best friends. Tessa Frantz ‘27 was one of my first friends at CC. We met during primary recruitment for Kappa Alpha Theta in our second Block of freshman year, and became fast friends after that. We were experiencing similar things in our first few weeks of freshman year, and clicked immediately.
At the end of our freshman year, we co-wrote an article called “Resisting Higher Education: Students and Faculty Stage Walkout and Teach-In for CC Divestment.” We spent all day running around campus, interviewing students and faculty, fact-checking and writing our article for immediate publication. We worked well together, with strengths that complemented each other.
Accepting the position was an easy decision, especially knowing that I would get to do it with one of my best friends. After three semesters serving as co-editor-in-chief, I’m incredibly grateful for every opportunity this paper has given me and the growth I’ve undergone since I began this job.
It’s not easy. We spend long days editing and going to print, working with editors, writers and our advisors to ensure an accurate and fair publication. Every week, my Wednesdays are completely blocked out for Publishing Days.
I’ve struggled with burnout from both writing and editing, and have weeks where I almost have to force myself to write. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but journalism and news can be exhausting.
I’m proud of the work we’ve done. We broke the story of the Housing Department offering students apartment spots in the midst of the 2025-26 housing selection before the process was reversed, published eyewitness testimony of the Evergreen High School shooting and helped our team navigate the ongoing attacks on the free press and media. Under our tenure, we broke “Alumni, Current Players and Parents Want Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Gone,” one of the Catalyst’s top stories of all time, which has almost 100,000 views across our collective platforms. The story has since been used by other news outlets and social media accounts.
While my time on our editorial team has come to an end, I am excited to have more time to write next year. The Catalyst has been a cornerstone of my time here, and while I’m not sure where I’ll go professionally post-graduation, the skills I have learned will take me far. I want to tell stories, in any capacity I can. Whether that’s journalism, marketing, photography or another form of communications, my passion lies in storytelling.
I can’t predict the future of this paper or the broader news landscape, but I’m confident in our students’ ability to sustain the longevity of our paper.