Ian Anzlowar’s Board Games and Investigative Dreams

“I discovered a passion for journalism kind of by accident,” says Ian Anzlowar, who interned for the Independent’s news department this summer. He dabbled in journalism while at SBCC, but it wasn’t until his first year at UC Irvine that he got more serious about writing as a career.

How is working for the Independent different than your college paper experience?  With college journalism, I find that the style and topics are much more restrictive. Not so much that we pick and choose what to report, but that the area of focus is much more limited to school and school-related topics. Additionally, since we are all students of the craft, we must adhere to the rules set forth by AP style and the traditional norms of journalism — nut graf, no voice whatsoever, very strict ledes, etc. With the Independent, there is much more creative freedom in how we write our stories.

Got any hobbies?  I am an avid board gamer. I have a deep passion for board games and role-playing games. I was the general manager of the board game store in town for multiple years, and I still work there during the holidays and summer. Additionally, I love to cook. I am always trying to experiment with new recipes and flavors to spice up a considerable repertoire of traditional recipes I hold near and dear to my heart. My personal favorite, which was introduced to me by my girlfriend, is a salmon and orzo salad with cucumber, feta, tomato, olives, and avocado.

What would you like to do as a career?  I would love to become an investigative journalist, uncovering truth and exposing inequity and injustice, but that is a hard market to corner. I would also enjoy working for the PR department of a game company, like Wizards of the Coast or Fantasy Flight Games. To combine my passion for fantasy and games coupled with my skills in creative writing journalism would be an absolute dream come true.