I'm a journalist and storyteller uniquely equipped to deal with the demands of today's digital age. In addition to having a solid foundation in engaging news writing, I can record and edit video, create interactive graphics using front-end web development skills, capture key moments in photos and bring visuals to life using the Adobe Creative Cloud. Ideally, I would like to work in an environment where I can fully converge my reporting, writing, multimedia and coding skills.
Ever since I won first place in a statewide Reading Rainbow writing competition in first grade (and followed it up with a repeat victory in second grade), I have loved everything about writing. I was always drawn towards nonfiction writing. All of my stories for class were thinly veiled retellings of recent field trips or topics we learned about in class. Until I jumped into a journalism class my sophomore year of high school, I never thought that writing could be a career. I'm thrilled to have found a career that encompasses all of my talents and skills. I love meeting people, immersing myself in complex topics, and pushing my own technical boundaries to experiment with new media.
When people ask where I'm from, it's always a bit of a complicated answer. I spent my childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, the core of the American South rich in civil rights history and steeped in Bible Belt culture. Then, I spent my high school years in a small city in the Midwest that completely revolves around the Mayo Clinic and medical treatment. For college, I moved to Los Angeles. I have dove into the rampant social justice issues so apparent in the University Park neighborhood. Living close heart-wrenching poverty on Skid Row and the glittering facades of Rodeo Drive is a journalist's dream. I also went to one of the most remote parts of the country, the Navajo Nation reservation near the Four Corners, on a spring break trip my freshman year. It revolutionized the way I think about service to others, the importance of heritage and culture, and the determined resilience of much of a tribe drowning in substance abuse and oppressed by a legal system that claims to protect them. I plan to study abroad in the spring semester of 2017 to immerse myself in Spanish and soak in the effects of Europe's chaotic political climate.
So far, I have worked for organizations including the Sacramento Bee, the Rochester Post-Bulletin (Minnesota), the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, and the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. I have delved into topics including California politics, criminal justice reform, gentrification and Los Angeles ballot initiatives. Through USC Annenberg, I have reported in the field investigating drug sentencing reform in Compton and juvenile justice issues in the heart of Los Angeles. My minor in Law and Public Policy has exposed me to various aspects of public policy development, economics, political science, law and statistics.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking with USC's student hiking and learning organization Peaks and Professors, reading, volunteering, running, finding coffee shops that make good tea, wearing my purple rain boots (which I don't get to do very often in Los Angeles), taking Zumba classes and exploring Los Angeles.
If you have any questions about my work or would like to get in touch, feel free to email me here. My Pressfolio features my work samples, and my Twitter features tweets from the field and links to what I'm reading, and my LinkedIn contains more details about my work experience.