Detroit brings passion for storytelling to APS

With a love for storytelling, Detroit Kallunki is graduating with an English degree this December.

Kallunki began reporting for the Lobo about a year ago and along the way found a love for talking to others and helping share stories.

“I really like conducting interviews, communicating with people and helping people share experiences that have shaped them, and what's important to them,” Kallunki said.

As an English major, their understanding and love for storytelling boils down to the words being written on a page, and the extra time for consideration it allows.

“Literature and language I love because they're such important ways of connecting with the world around us and with expressing ourselves. I struggle sometimes to express myself verbally, so I really enjoy that I can express myself in a written form,” Kallunki said.

Next year, Kallunki will work as a middle school social studies teacher for Albuquerque Public Schools. Before working as a Senior Reporter for the Daily Lobo, Kallunki served as an educational assistant at a middle school. Both jobs, they said, have influenced what they take with them to APS  – reliance and storytelling.

“I think you can teach in a way that (involves) telling stories. When I took social studies or history growing up, I always loved when it was like, ‘This is the story of what happened,’” Kallunki said.

Stephen Bishop, a professor at the University of New Mexico who had Kallunki in class this semester, said that the skills Kallunki has brought to class – engaging with texts and classmates both critically and with compassion – are important for a career in education.

“They’re willing to listen to other people and better understand what they're thinking,“ Bishop said.

Storytelling, Kallunki said, ultimately comes down to making information more digestible to the reader.

“Even when something isn't always a story, I think you can communicate like a storyteller if it is just sharing the experiences of others in a way that is often more digestible,” Kallunki said.

At the Daily Lobo, Kallunki said, they have been able to further develop their writing and interviewing skills. This past October, Kallunki covered the ABQ Zine Fest, and getting to share stories about community members’ art, they said, has been a highlight.

“I got to talk to people about the art they create and these intimate personal stories that they want to share with people ... Which  makes it even more personal and wonderful to be part of it,” Kallunki said. 

In class, Bishop said their love and appreciation for literature is clear. At the Lobo, their love for learning and listening fares the same.

“Everybody has the capacity to love learning in some way and love engaging in some way,” Kallunki said.

Maddie Pukite is the editor-in-chief at the Daily Lobo. They can be contacted at editorinchief@dailylobo.com on Twitter @maddogpukite 

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