ABOUT ME
I’m a news reporter for The State, a local newspaper based in Columbia, South Carolina. Storytelling is my passion.
I primarily report on the University of South Carolina, Richland County public schools and statewide education policy. I also write breaking news on the weekends.
I am well-versed in the grind of daily reporting and feature writing, hungry for watchdog and enterprise work and happiest when adding a human element to hard-hitting stories. I pride myself on my flexibility — I'm up for anything thrown my way.
I recently had the privilege of being a member of the final and most competitive class of the Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism Fellowship from 2023 to 2024, where I learned about everything from beat building to community engagement techniques, and so much more. My innovation project, a signature element of the program, was fostering collaboration between The State and The Daily Gamecock, USC's student newspaper, and creating an online zine as a guide for those who wish to do the same.
Before I began at The State, I was a reporting intern for the O'Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism. I worked with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Guy Boulton on an investigative series focusing on health disparities in Milwaukee and exploring the social determinants of health. I dug into budget and health data for the project and I was responsible for a story on parish nursing in Milwaukee. The project earned a national award from the Association of Health Care Journalists for health policy reporting, a Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists for collaborative journalism and an first place prize for health, science and pandemic writing from the National Headliner Awards.
During my time in college I also interned with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Daily Herald and the Milwaukee Magazine, where I reported on local government, education, features, breaking news and more. I was involved with Marquette University’s student media organization, the Marquette Wire as well, where I served as a news editor and reporter for nearly three years. My collegiate work was recognized with awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Milwaukee Press Club and the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association.
In May 2022 I became a first-generation college graduate after working my way through school — something I will always regard as one of my greatest accomplishments. I earned an honors bachelor’s degree with double majors in journalism and digital media and a minor in Latinx studies from Marquette.
When I'm not reporting or talking about being from Chicago, you can find me painting, kayaking, eating Thai food and listening 1970s soft rock!