For a journalist, I have a poor memory.
Cat scratch notes scrawled in the margins of journals; constant calendar reminders; sticky notes taped to walls, mirrors and even occasionally my steering wheel — I struggle to remember what I did earlier in the week, let alone memories from years ago. But I remember exactly where I was this time four years ago.
On May 1, 2022, alongside 4,703 others across the country, I committed to OU. Immediately after pressing the “accept” button, I shut my laptop, curled into a ball on my bedroom floor and sobbed.
After a few minutes, I felt my phone buzzing near my hand. Through tears I answered, “Hello?”
It was my sister, Meghana. She was calling to celebrate my college commitment. My whole family already knew my decision, but I don’t think they knew the depth of how miserable I was in making it.
Anusha Fathepure and her sister, Meghana, at the University of Colorado Boulder celebrating Meghana’s graduation with her master’s.
“What's wrong?” She asked. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m such a failure!” I cried in response.
Growing up as part of a small Asian community in Stillwater, the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, known as OSSM, was a mythical, legendary place. It was a prestigious public STEM high school. Teenagers anxiously awaited letters of acceptance, and, once admitted, parents would glow with pleasure, surrounded by choruses of admiration and congratulations.
But the realities of boarding school — especially during the upheaval of COVID-19 — were painful and isolating. For all the amazing friends I met and memories I made, a culture of sexism and elitism existed at OSSM. I felt like all the things I was good at, such as writing and the humanities, were seen as stupid and not valuable; in turn, I felt stupid and not valuable.
I fought through constant anxiety and bouts of depression trying to prove that I deserved to be there. I felt so worthless and weak.
During my senior year, many teachers and administrators advised me that staying in state for college would be a bad choice. That, despite finances or opportunity, to stay in Oklahoma would be embarrassing and an indication that I was a failure incapable of success. And I believed them.
Clicking on that acceptance button felt like an acknowledgement of my failure.
Crying on my bedroom floor, I told my sister all my fears and worries. That I would never achieve anything of purpose. That I was a failure.
She paused for a moment before responding.
“Just join OU Daily,” she said, simply. A month prior, my sister had been featured in an article about female students in aerospace engineering. She encouraged me to read it.
I spent the rest of that day scrolling on the Daily’s website, reading articles and flipping through photo galleries. The fear, the anxiety, the self-loathing lessened.
I remember so clearly the first time I walked into the newsroom in Copeland Hall. Impatient to get involved, I applied to OU Daily in the summer, a month before school started. Then-news managing editor Alexia Aston — who I would go on to intern with at The Oklahoman the following summer — texted and invited me to the Daily’s fall open house before classes began.
Anusha Fathepure and her close friend Teegan Smith on the last day of their first year. Adviser Seth Prince gifted them OU Daily hats earlier in the day as a congratulations for finishing their last exam. Anusha and Teegan took this photo walking out of the newsroom to commemorate the completion of their first year at the Daily.
Nervous, I dragged along my roommate Khushi Damani and friend Teegan Smith — two people who I met at OSSM and still mean the world to me.
It’s funny in hindsight how that room was filled with so many people who were strangers at the time but I now so deeply know and love. I sat among people like Thomas Pablo, Mary Ann Livingood, Ana Barboza, Ismael Lele and Gracie Rawlings all similarly rapt with attention as newsroom adviser Seth Prince encouraged us not to dabble but to dive in.
My first year at the Daily was a blur. I joined the Student Government Association beat with Kaly Phan, who was kind enough to never question why after that first Tuesday evening meeting I kept senselessly tagging along. I spent the year discovering OU’s campus and community through the stories I wrote.
A few weeks before the end of my first year, Seth messaged and asked me to meet with him in his office. I was convinced I was getting fired. It’s hilarious to consider now how nervous and frightened of him I was. The only other time I had sat in his office was when then-news editors Alexia, Karoline Leonard and Jazz Wolfe offered me a job in the fall. Funnily enough, I thought I was getting fired then as well.
Seth asked if I had any summer plans. I didn’t have a strong answer for him. I had applied to a few research programs — at the time, I planned on pursuing my Ph.D. after college and becoming an English professor. He told me The Oklahoman was still looking for a summer intern, and he had put my name forward as a candidate. He said they wanted to interview me.
I’m still so incredibly grateful for Seth’s and other editors’ faith in me. By no means was I a perfect reporter then. I still made silly mistakes and didn’t produce as many stories as fast as I wanted, but they believed in me. Their belief set me on the path that brought me to where I am today.
From left to right: Anusha Fathepure, Karoline Leonard, Ismael Lele and Peggy Dodd at the 2024 OU Daily spring end-of-year gathering. This was the first semester Anusha became an editor, and she is grateful for the support these three gave her.
In the spring of my sophomore year, through the encouragement of Karoline and Peggy Dodd, I became assistant news managing editor. That semester marked one of my most pivotal times at the Daily. Becoming an editor solidified my passion for journalism. I loved teaching reporters, editing and refining stories and, most of all, having important ethical conversations with leadership. I learned at warp speed alongside people I greatly admired.
That semester and the ones that followed were also when I formed my closest connections with others. I grew close not only with Karoline and Peggy, but also fellow news editor Ismael Lele. The next year, when I rose to news managing editor, Ana Barboza joined leadership ranks bringing her endless kindness and empathy.
I formed a haphazardly managed book club with Mary Ann, Grace Rhodes, Avery Avery, Sophie Hemker and many many others.
I mentored reporters like Abby Young, Natalie Armour, Macey Thaxton, Audrey McClour and Keaton Shaffer who now sit with me at the head of the table, serving as editors and newsroom leaders.
Anusha Fathepure with her close friend and former OU Daily sports editor Gracie Rawlings. Anusha misses working alongside her every day.
Sports editor Gracie Rawlings and I spent a number of late nights alone in the newsroom helming our individual desks through intensive and difficult coverage. But the best part was that we were doing it together.
From left to right: Roommates and best friends Sara Varghese, Khushi Damani, Jhanvi Patel and Anusha Fathepure at the OU Pakistani Student Association’s 2024 Mock Mehndi event. Anusha believes she’s the luckiest girl in the world to have these three in her life.
During that first open house, I watched then-editor-in-chief Jillian Taylor as she led the room surrounded by her editorial board. I determined at that moment I, too, wanted a place that meant so much to me and where I meant so much to a place. Last spring, I ran for and was elected editor-in-chief, a dream three years in the making.
I remember walking out of the Publications Board interview to congratulations from the newsroom. I immediately called my family who sent lots of love and congratulations. My roommates and best friends Khushi, Sara Varghese and Jhanvi Patel surprised me in the newsroom with flowers, a card and lots of hugs. We grabbed dinner that evening with our friends Chandini Kanderi and Urvi Patil who brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
From left to right: Chandini Kanderi, Anusha Fathepure and Urvi Patil on Oct. 20, 2025, at the OU-Mississippi football game. These two mean the world to Anusha.
On the first day of school this year in August, staffers came in and asked me to take photos of them under the crimson OU Daily sign that hangs above the newsroom’s entrance. They wanted to commemorate the new academic year. As I snapped photos, capturing their bright eagerness, I promised myself I wanted to make this a year to remember. And that couldn’t be more true.
Over the course of this year, I’ve written stories I’m so proud of: investigative pieces about OU’s African and African American Studies Department and Turning Point USA’s national event in Norman; the history and discovery of human remains on campus; an OU football player’s lawsuit against the NCAA; the city’s pursuit of a $1.1 billion entertainment district in University North Park; the hiring of a new OU athletic director; and countless others.
The Daily itself grew and evolved as well. We expanded our vertical video operation, finding new ways to connect with audiences. The Daily earned a Pacemaker Award, known as the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism, and staffers earned six honors in the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists’ contest. We introduced a new innovator-in-residence position which was helmed by veteran journalists Mike Sherman and Will Pry. They are two incredible news leaders who energized and enriched the entire OU Daily, and I couldn’t be more proud to call them my mentors.
From left to right: OU Daily editor-in-chief Anusha Fathepure, editor-in-chief-elect Willie Gillespie and former editor-in-chief Hannah Allam. Anusha was honored to meet Hannah and hopes she upheld Hannah’s legacy well. Anusha holds so much pride and trust in Willie for his leadership next year.
I also found joy in the small moments: watching Charlie Brown movies during Friendsgiving; an early morning drive to Wichita with Willie Gillespie; doing makeup in the newsroom with Natalie, Macey, Audrey and Madisson Cameron; coffee runs with Annie Davenport; reporting on breaking news with my cat, Rey, curled in my lap; dinners with Ana and Ismael; replacing CNN and ESPN on the newsroom TVs with movies during finals week; long drives, live music and Braum’s ice cream with Khushi, Sara and Jhanvi; my daily morning debrief with Seth.
The other day Seth messaged me and wrote that one day, sitting in Portland — where I will be heading after graduation — while drinking a matcha and looking at Mount Hood, I will miss all of this.
The thing is, sometimes, I look around and miss it already.
The spring 2026 OU Daily editorial board joined by adviser and Student Media Director Seth Prince, right edge, and innovator-in-residence Will Pry, left edge.
Writing this column feels surreal. I can’t believe I get to sit at the head of this table. I can’t believe I get to teach, learn from and collaborate with what I believe to be the most talented young journalists in the entire nation. I can’t believe I get to lead this room. Most of all, I can’t believe I have the faith and trust of everyone at the Daily. It’s the greatest honor of my life, truly.
I’m so far from that high school girl crying on her bedroom floor. I no longer feel that same self-loathing or misery towards staying in Oklahoma. In fact, it’s the opposite. I wish I could tell her how much has changed for me. I wish I could tell her that she would find her purpose.
I don’t regret that I came to OU. I don’t regret that I ended up at the Daily.
I would choose it over and over again.
Anusha Fathepure is an OU journalism and English graduate. At the Daily, she served as a news intern, junior news reporter, senior news reporter, assistant news managing editor, news managing editor and editor-in-chief. She previously interned at The Oklahoman, KOSU Radio and the Houston Chronicle. This summer, she will be going to Portland, Oregon, to intern at The Oregonian, following in the footsteps of her mentor Seth Prince. She only hopes to become as compassionate, intelligent and kind as he is; but she sure will try.
Anusha Fathepure and her mentor and adviser Seth Prince. She doesn’t know what she would do without his guidance.
Read some of Anusha’s work:
