By Myles Darby
Baldwin High School
For Gregory Valestin, journalism is more than putting words onto a page. It’s about discovering the experiences, struggles and perspectives of people who might otherwise go unnoticed.
“I really want to uncover some stories from other countries that people here may want to know,” Gregory said.
The 15-year-old from Jamaica, Queens, has spent his life surrounded by different communities and cultures, experiences that shaped his curiosity about the world. Growing up in Parkway Village, a residential neighborhood near Flushing, Gregory has developed a strong connection to the area he calls home.
“I know this area like the back of my hand,” he said. “Especially the area north of it in Flushing, because I jog there a lot.”
Gregory is a sophomore at Brooklyn Technical High School, where he has continued to develop his interest in journalism and storytelling.
He is one of four children raised by his mother, Michelle Rodriguez.
“Gregory has always been a very curious person,” Rodriguez said. “He asks a lot of questions, and when he becomes interested in something, he really wants to understand it. I think that curiosity is one of the things that makes him a good storyteller because he genuinely wants to know about people and their experiences.”
His passion for journalism grew from watching documentaries about communities around the world and seeing how storytelling could introduce audiences to places and experiences they may never encounter themselves. For Gregory, journalism became a way to explore those stories firsthand.
While he describes himself as someone who is both shy and outgoing, depending on the situation, Gregory believes one of his biggest strengths is his ability to connect with others.
He also wants people to look beyond assumptions about him. As someone who is autistic, he believes many people misunderstand what that means.
“I feel like when people hear that I’m autistic, maybe they think I’m really shy or something,” he said. “That was how it was a couple years ago, but it’s not anymore now. I’m pretty talkative.”
One moment that helped shape Gregory’s personality happened when he was younger. During a Cub Scout activity in 2018, Gregory had an accident that left him injured. While the experience was painful, it changed the way he viewed the world.
“That pain was a wake-up call in my head that other people can feel this pain,” Gregory said. “That was when I realized I got to really be nice to people.”
Although he was only seven years old at the time, Gregory said that experience helped him become the more compassionate person he is today.
That same desire to understand others has followed him into journalism. Last year, Gregory joined his school newspaper, where he learned that reporting is not always predictable. One of his first articles focused on the possibility of changes to mayoral control over New York City schools. However, before he could finish his reporting, the situation changed.
“I was mad, bro. I had to go back to the drawing board,” Gregory said.
Instead of seeing the setback as a failure, Gregory used it as a learning experience that taught him the importance of choosing stories carefully and finding topics that will remain meaningful over time.
Looking ahead, Gregory hopes to build a career as an independent journalist, creating videos and articles that allow him to travel and share stories from different places.
“My biggest goal right now is to make a living as an independent journalist,” he said. “Either as an independent journalist on YouTube, and if that doesn’t work out, maybe like a freelance journalist.”
Through the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists, Gregory hopes to continue improving his skills and developing as a storyteller.
“I hope to get a beginner-level understanding of the process of writing an article, interviewing, picking topics, and how to structure an article,” he said.
For Gregory, the future of journalism is not just about reporting what happens. It is about finding the human stories behind those events.
Whether he is interviewing people on the street, creating videos, or writing articles, Gregory hopes to continue doing what first inspired him: helping people see the world from a different perspective.
“I want to tell stories that people may not have heard before and help people understand experiences and perspectives that they might not otherwise know about,” he said.