By Jakara Guston
Before she ever stepped into a newsroom, Hannah Evans was already a storyteller. At family gatherings, she was the “yapper,” the curious cousin who always wanted to know more, who asked questions most kids wouldn’t think to ask. Even when she was little, she’d ask her cousins so many questions they’d say, “Girl, why you asking me?”
Now 17 and a rising senior at Madison Central High School, Evans dreams of becoming a political journalist, and not just because she loves politics. She believes in looking beyond the surface, seeing the full picture and telling stories that matter. Inspired by her mother’s resilience and accomplishments, Evans is determined to carve her own path built on bold conversations, community change and capturing the world through both words and camera lenses.
“I always wanted to know more,” she says, eyes bright with memory.
The Why, the How, the Heart of It
The returning YMP student mentor had to figure it out herself, and she always does. Evans was never one to let a story sit on the surface. She wanted to dig deeper, to get to the why, the how, the heart of it. That’s what makes her more than just a talker; she has become a storyteller and a successful one at that. In April 2025, she won Second Place for Best Enterprise in the Report for America Student Journalism Awards for her YMP article “The How and the Why: Education is Key Motivating Young People To Vote.” She is also proud of winning Best Supporting Actress in the High Tech Video Awards for her short film “Clue-Be-Doo,” a murder mystery based on a board game. It helped her find a new perspective on how to tell stories.
Evans’ inspiration comes from home.
“My mom,” she answers without hesitation when asked about her inspiration. “She’s strong. Resilient. She got her doctorate and was the first woman in her family to graduate from college.”
The pride in her voice makes it clear that Evans doesn’t just admire her mother, Dr. Nicole Charleston; she studies her, draws from her strength and carries that legacy into every space she enters.
Those spaces are not always welcoming. As a Black girl in a predominately white school, Evans has learned what it means to walk into rooms where people underestimate her.
“They don’t think I have much to offer,” she says. “But I know I’m smart. I apply myself.”
‘I Have to Work For It’
Evans is not bitter about being underestimated; she is focused, ready to show up and shake the room. She doesn’t wait for doors to open; she builds her own. As a part of her school’s newspaper team, she has taken on leadership as a social-media manager, a role that lets her blend her voice, vision and message. It’s not just about aesthetics or posts. For Evans, it’s about communication, community and being seen.
Though she admits that junior year was heavy, she turns to something simple but powerful: Pinterest.
“I have a board of the life I want. And when I feel like giving up, I look at it and remind myself that if I want that life, I have to work for it,” Evans says.
That digital vision board has become her anchor and her reminder that dreaming is a form of discipline, too. Evans dreams of owning a Sony Alpha ZV-E10 camera, not just to take pretty pictures, but to capture stories. She wants to document her college life, her journey, her community. She wants to remember the moments that matter and one day reflect on who she was—the girl who saw the world not just as it is, but as it could be.
When you talk to Evans, a returning student journalist and mentor who first trained at the Youth Media Project in 2024, you don’t just hear a high school student figuring things out. You hear a young woman becoming. Becoming brave. Becoming brilliant. Becoming a truth-teller in a world full of noise.
Hannah Evans isn’t following trends; she is starting something of her own. When she steps into the spotlight, it won’t be for attention. It’ll be because the story needs her voice, and she’s ready to speak.