To briefly explain why I feel as though journalism is my calling, it simply comes

down to the following: there are stories and truths to be told, and I believe it is not only

my duty, but my privilege to tell them. I have a passion for the people—their personal

stories, preserving their rights and taking on the challenge to share their experiences

while doing them justice.

Because of this passion, I see myself as a cultural storyteller at a publication such as National Geographic. What started as a mission trip to work at an orphanage in Peru when I was 17 years old turned into a trip that would change the way I looked at the world forever. Since that trip, I have found nothing more liberating than the idea of telling the stories of people that cannot tell their own—especially to those on the other side of the world.

During my time at the University of Georgia, I have completed numerous journalism courses and focused in on photojournalism. I have also thoroughly enjoyed being a reporter, assistant culture editor, and culture editor at an independent student newspaper, The Red & Black. I am now preparing to become Editor In Chief this summer of the very newspaper where I started out as a wide-eyed recruit.

Writing has been my outlet for as long as I can remember, but it is now my dream. I genuinely believe through writing and visual storytelling, the other side of the world really isn’t so far away.