B.A. multimedia journalism, B.A. political science | Oklahoma State University

Graduation: May 9, 2025

My work


I’ve always been a listener. 

Or at least people treated me like one. I grew up painfully shy, and I spent most of high school trying to blend into the white brick walls of Jones High School like a socially awkward chameleon. But people still noticed me, and I noticed something about them, too. The longer I listened, the more they shared. 

But I broke my cycle of awkwardness in college, because I felt as if I could accomplish anything as long as I was armed with my purple AP stylebook and my reporting notebook. I clung to one part of high school, though. Listening.

People talk to me because they want to be heard, and they know I will listen. I interview sources no one else can get in touch with because I put in the work no one else will. That means sending handwritten letters to sources who aren’t sure they want to talk. It means meeting sources wherever they’re comfortable talking to me. It means dropping off a physical copy of the paper that features their story. I’ve helped feed the homeless, interviewed a Paris diplomat at 4 a.m. and pitched a story idea to strip club staff because sometimes that’s what it takes to get to a good story.

And in return, people listen to me. They read what I write, keep in touch over email and send me story ideas.

So I’ll keep listening, and I won’t stop writing.


My resume

Clips

Local government and education

Courts and crime

MMJ Capstone Project

Each multimedia journalism student is required to complete a capstone course to graduate. We must choose a topic for the project, pitch five story ideas and present each of them to the class.

I chose “fashion on campus” as my topic. The freedom students gain at college manifests in a lot of ways, one of them being personal style. Sometimes the clothes people wear symbolize more than their style, or an outfit may be nothing more than what they grabbed from their closet that morning as they hurried to class. The topic is inherently visual, and everyone has a unique sense of fashion.

  • I camped out on campus for a day to see and show what students wear through a photo series. Read it here.

  • Watch or read it here.

  • Read it here.

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About me

I’m from Jones, Oklahoma, a town about three thousand people call home. I grew up in a University of Oklahoma family, and I imagined myself carrying on the tradition for most of my life. As college decision time neared, I realized I belonged at Oklahoma State University, so I  trusted my gut and took an alternative path, a theme that defined my college career. 

Although I outgrew my crimson and creamed colored dreams, my love for writing didn’t fade with age. I grew up playing with the reporter American Girl Doll, Kit, and I started my own newspaper in elementary school. The Backyard Barn News ran only one Sunday. I couldn’t come up with a second week of stories and neither could my unpaid staff reporter (my little brother). I ditched The Backyard Barn News for the barn, and I began barrel racing when I was 13. Now, I’m back where I started: the newspaper. And I write about more than farm animals now.

I cover politics, crime, breaking news and everything in between that piques my interest. I added a second degree plan in political science halfway through college to gain an unbiased, educated perspective on the topics I covered, and I owe my journalism experience to newsrooms, not classrooms. I’ve been a natural at writing, but I learned journalism is about so much more. The bright blue O’Colly newsroom became my sanctuary during hard times, and I could escape reality as long as I had my Tulsa World press badge around my neck. Read more about it in my column for the Oklahoma Press Association here.

My love for horses followed me to college, too. After saving the money to buy my mare when I was 17, my parents couldn’t exactly tell me no when I told them I planned to bring her to college. She held me accountable, and I owe my horses for making me a determined, resilient journalist. I even snuck in a column about horses into The O’Colly. Read it here.

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