LEARNING FROM THE BEST FINDING STORIES IN HIS STEAD Written by Molly Cochran
A
Illustrated by Jeniffer Torres
fter working a three-hour-long night shift as a cashier at Chicken Maison on Jan. 23, I walked out into the brisk, rainy night and dialed my professor’s number as I stood waiting for my Uber to arrive. In three rings, she picked up. I could immediately tell by her voice that she had been crying and that’s when I realized that I wasn’t going to like whatever it was she had to tell me. “Molly, Juan is dead.”
The entire ride home I was in a state of shock, we spent over 15 minutes on the phone, which is astounding for two people who had absolutely nothing to say. In a situation like that, there really is nothing anyone can say to make up for the shock 66 Warrior Life
and pain of losing someone so young.
Juan was many things, a 22-year-old journalism major hailing from south central Los Angeles, he was editor-in-chief for Warrior Life magazine and occupied two editorial positions and a staff writing position in his time at The Union. Juan was the most present person on the staff. Every time I needed an editor or had a question, he responded in minutes except for the occasional times we were both unavailable, and that was during Dodger's games. More so than maybe anything, Juan loved the Dodgers. I almost only ever saw him in Dodger blue and he lived by their wins and losses. When they won the World Series last year, I
