Payton graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a major in journalism and a minor in Arabic studies. After freelancing as a journalist and riding out pandemic-era travel bans, he moved to Amman, Jordan, with the goal of improving his Arabic and finding work as a journalist. He spent some time freelancing in Jordan and Lebanon, then eventually landed a salaried job working for Al Bawaba English in Amman. After working in Amman for roughly a year, he moved back to the United States to see family and continue covering a journalistic niche of his – Oregon wildfires. Now, Payton splits his time between working as a wildland firefighter in his home state of Oregon, taking Arabic classes and freelancing in Amman. Payton’s work as a journalist has been published by The Washington Post, The New York Times, Al Jazeera and other international publications.
How has the study of Arabic been important for your life and career?
My study of Arabic has opened so many doors for me both personally and professionally. After moving to Amman, Jordan, to work as a journalist and continue my Arabic studies, I met people who became some of my closest friends. Without Arabic in my life, I never would have met those friends or been confident/cocky enough to move to a foreign country. Arabic also enabled me to find a salaried reporting job while in Amman that ensured my move wasn’t just a waste of money fueled by wanderlust. It let me be (relatively) productive as a freelancer and helped me navigate the challenges of daily life in an Arabic-speaking country. And I can’t stress that daily life point enough. Being able to rely on my language skills made things like getting a COVID booster from indifferent health ministry staff much easier. Or at least slightly less rage-inducing.
What has learning Arabic, living in the Arabic world, meant for your growth as a person?
It has helped me connect with people who have completely different life experiences than mine, and learn more about realities outside of the ones that immediately affect me. Whether it’s a member of Syria’s White Helmets, Jordanian farmers living next to the border of an active warzone or a Lebanese cab driver struggling to survive when there’s no gas in his country, Arabic has helped me understand some of what the people I meet are going through. This in turn helps me grow as a person and as a journalist who hopes to produce work that educates someone about something.