Using storytelling to better our community

It all started when…

I was 6-years-old and I found out my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I didn’t know what it meant, except that I got to go to the hospital with her every week. I would sit with her through her appointments and tests fascinated by the medical work around me.

When I was 8, my grandmother became more and more ill. By this time, I was proudly telling the world I was to be an emergency room doctor at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Thus began my drive for the fast-paced environment of the emergency room.

Through high school and the beginning of college, I pursued my passion of medicine, until I was faced with the hard truth. I was unable to excel academically in the way I needed in order to make it to med school. When that realization dawned on me, I walked into the nearest building where I could find a friend. While there, I ran into Professor Dan Garrity who sat me down in his office and told me, “we got you.”

I was skeptical at first, until I saw the fast-paced, quick thinking environment which made me fall in love with the emergency room. While I wasn’t wearing a white coat, wearing a headset was a great alternative. Professor Dan fostered my ambition to help me become the journalist I am today. I found a family in the Broadcast department and owe my success in college and beyond to them.

During my senior year of college, I landed myself a job working the floor of the leading news station in Spokane, WA. Getting my foot in the door at KHQ-TV led me to getting a full-time position as a Content Coordinator working on the assignment desk of the station. There I was able to work in every position around the newsroom and found my passion for producing.

I took a break from the newsroom to be with my family in Southern California. I found a newsroom near home and joined the team at KEYT-TV. Here, I have become part of a family again and see our product as such that could compete with the station in Los Angeles.

I have learned much from working in these newsrooms and am excited for what comes next in my journey.