I graduated from Ritenour High School in St. Louis, Missouri, No. 5 out of 400 students. I immediately attended Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Mo. as a freshman journalism major. My second semester I added an English major. As a result, I earned two Bachelor of Arts' degrees, English: Writing and Mass Communication: Journalism. I continued on to graduate school at Southeast Missouri State University.
I was the managing editor of the Southeast Arrow newspaper. I was the lead page designer and a reporter previously. I was a student reporter for a radio station, KRCU, the NPR affiliate for Southeast Missouri. I am a former reporter for the Pepperbox newspaper.
I have been to Cambodia for humanitarian relief in May 2008, a Native American reservation in Arizona in July 2008, England and Paris, France, in 2013, and multiple states in the United States.