Growing up in a small town, Mount Airy, NC, aka "Mayberry," I had a strong curiosity for the world outside of my own tiny sphere. That curiosity led me to go to college far from home at Boston University, where I fell in love with Journalism. I wrote for my school's newspaper, and took every opportunity to learn about and listen to other people's stories, which then landed me in Australia. I worked as a writing intern at Australian Geographic Magazine and traveled to the Outback to report on aborigine culture. The year after I graduated, I was chosen as one of eight Journalism graduates across America to film a documentary about the new face of poverty in America. I saw the area where I'm from in a new way, and got to share the stories I found on CNN in 2011.
After college, I moved to Raleigh to be a storyteller in my home state at The Raleigh News & Observer. At 4 a.m. each day I headed to the jail to write about the crimes that occurred overnight. In my first year, I earned two North Carolina Press Association awards. The thing I'm most proud of, however, is when readers donated more than $30,000 to help a boy I wrote about who'd been robbed while in his wheelchair. That's when I truly witnessed the power of storytelling to bring about good. My second year at the paper I became a community reporter. Instead of going to the jail each day to find news, I'd stroll up and down Main Street, chatting with business owners and town leaders to make sure when anything happened, I was the first to find out.
After two years at the paper, I traveled abroad to Cambodia to fulfill another dream and work with a non-profit called the Harpswell Foundation that empowers women to get an education. I taught college students journalism, and video editing through a Fellowship I received.
Since returning to America, I've worked in various capacities in mental health, education, and Journalism, including spending 50 nights in Pisgah National Forest as a wilderness therapy guide. I'm most passionate about learning new things and picking up new skill sets from wilderness survival skills to website development skills.
I'm currently interested in doing research related to media freedom, and media law, as well as covering local government. I work as a freelance reporter for the Carolina Public Press, and volunteer for the Index on Censorship.
For fun, I enjoy making videos, taking head shots, teaching yoga, and baking bread. For journalism inquiries, or anything else, contact me at: [email protected]
After college, I moved to Raleigh to be a storyteller in my home state at The Raleigh News & Observer. At 4 a.m. each day I headed to the jail to write about the crimes that occurred overnight. In my first year, I earned two North Carolina Press Association awards. The thing I'm most proud of, however, is when readers donated more than $30,000 to help a boy I wrote about who'd been robbed while in his wheelchair. That's when I truly witnessed the power of storytelling to bring about good. My second year at the paper I became a community reporter. Instead of going to the jail each day to find news, I'd stroll up and down Main Street, chatting with business owners and town leaders to make sure when anything happened, I was the first to find out.
After two years at the paper, I traveled abroad to Cambodia to fulfill another dream and work with a non-profit called the Harpswell Foundation that empowers women to get an education. I taught college students journalism, and video editing through a Fellowship I received.
Since returning to America, I've worked in various capacities in mental health, education, and Journalism, including spending 50 nights in Pisgah National Forest as a wilderness therapy guide. I'm most passionate about learning new things and picking up new skill sets from wilderness survival skills to website development skills.
I'm currently interested in doing research related to media freedom, and media law, as well as covering local government. I work as a freelance reporter for the Carolina Public Press, and volunteer for the Index on Censorship.
For fun, I enjoy making videos, taking head shots, teaching yoga, and baking bread. For journalism inquiries, or anything else, contact me at: [email protected]
