Ariunzayat Yunren, from Mongolia, has lived in the Bay Area for almost 20 years. Her son inspired her curiosity in esports, which opened a totally new world. She now runs a small esports news website and Facebook page with 72K followers in the Mongolian language. She is taking journalism at Laney to become a professional esports journalist. She also published the first ever book about esports and video gaming in the Mongolian language, focused on her experiences with esports events. The more she learns about journalism from this class, the more she realizes she still has to learn.

Erik Bracken is a new student journalist at The Peralta Citizen. He is also a new resident of Oakland, having recently relocated from the Santa Cruz mountains, where he was born and raised. He is committed to keeping his fellow students and voters informed about the local policies that affect them, and proud to serve the community as a writer for The Citizen. In his spare time he can be found walking around the lake, loitering around the public library, and dancing as often as possible.

Desmond Meagley (any/all) got hir start in journalism at the YR Media newsroom in 2015, writing about public health, education and gender. Since then hir work has appeared in CalMatters, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, KALW and more. Xe has also been honored with awards from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, The Society of Professional Journalists NorCal, Public Radio News Directors Inc., and The National LGBTQ+ Journalists Association (NLGJA). Desmond is a recipient of the NLGJA’s Leroy F. Aarons scholarship and a sitting board member of the NLGJA’s Northern California chapter. Through hir contributions to The Citizen, Desmond aims to increase transparency and student participation throughout the Peralta Community College District. Outside of class, xe is usually drawing, cooking, or spending time with hir cat.