Alumnus Hanlin Tang (‘04) was the Editor-of-chief of The Blue & Gold from 2002 to 2004. After graduating, Hanlin received his bachelor degree from Princeton, where he majored in physics, worked in department policy, and was part of a science newspaper publication. He then spent two years in RAND Corporation, a nonprofit organization where he worked in policy related problems. He is now a principal scientist at Intel AI Lab.  

As his career is centered around science and policy, Hanlin recognizes his experience in The Blue & Gold as an important role in his life. “Writing plays a big role in shaping,” Hanlin said. “My writing is way more highly technical writing, which oftentimes is not as rewarding. So no matter where you end up in your career, I think continuing to write is very rewarding.” 

Hanlin often interlinks his The Blue & Gold to his current job, as he received a lot of experience in working with a group of people in his time as editor. “Early on, I had the chance to kind of be an organized group of students,” Hanlin said. “Where in all those years we all worked closely for hours to put out a paper every month.” 

Hanlin gives the publication credit for letting him understand the importance of meeting deadlines. “When I write research papers now,” he said, “putting figures and graphics together while working with other people in a stressful environment [helped me] because back in high school, we usually have deadlines.” 

Even though he is a very busy person, Hanlin often reopens the door of his high school memories by reminiscing his time in the publication, where he also met his wife. “Back when I was [in] the newspaper, I had a very close knit group of friends,” Hanlin said. “And even though we still keep in touch today, it’s still not the same experience.”

Reflecting back to his high school years, Hanlin admitted that he regrets quitting writing in general and advises The Blue & Gold staff reporters to continue writing even after graduation. “I think some more content really helped students for their very true,” Hanlin said. “Writing is a way of thinking— I actually regretted it when I ended up in college. So no matter where you end up in your career, continue to write.”