Autobiography

I was born in Chicago, IL 21 and a half years ago. Both of my parents graduated with degrees from the University of Missouri with an emphasis in advertising. Both were supremely accomplished in their craft, as they garnered high GPAs and excellent jobs soon after college (my mother’s first job was at Leo Burnett, while my father eventually settled at an ad firm in Chicago).

From a fairly early age, I was interested in writing. But my main interest was not in writing about the truth, but instead crafting wild, outlandish lies in the realm of fiction. In elementary school, I tried my best to win a contest that chose the best short story in our grade. Needless to say, my stories about game shows that turn contestants into mice and boys being transported to a land where penguins ruled the roost did not make the final cut. These setbacks, however, did not deter me from working to improve my writing. My parents were my biggest supporters. They helped me by proofreading my papers and giving valuable advice on how to craft better syntax and pursue more logical arguments.

Of course, not all of my attempts were successful. One episode that I remember humorously in retrospect is a time when I wrote a report on the key events of 1989. My main focus of the project, of course, was the collapse of the Berlin Wall. For some reason, I didn'’t know that much about the period, even though it had transpired only a few short years before. And so, I provided stunning details such as Mikhail Gorbachev, who was famous for "having a red splotch on his head." My dad was so angry at my attempt that he threw the papers across the room.

Although this was scary at the time, it sparked something inside of me that would continue to this day – a desire to obtain and keep knowledge. This included all realms – history, literature, pop culture and current events. Within a couple of years, I won the current events competition in my high school. I also found that I was excelling at history for the first time in my educational life. This was important, because for a short period of time during my sophomore year of high school, I was seriously considering studying history in college.

But things changed when I began in earnest my work at my high school newspaper, The Statesman. It was run by Carol Jo Dagro, an educator who was nominated for the prestigious honor of Illinois teacher of the year. When I thought I was going to quit journalism after failing to crop a photo correctly, she gave me a smiley face sugar cookie and told me to keep going.

I did. Unfortunately, as I look back the paper, it didn’t teach me much about reporting. It was a glorified newsletter. It did, however, allow me to craft an opinion column, which I enjoyed immensely. Ms. Dagro didn'’t let me write more than two articles about politics a semester. But when I got the chance, I hit the ground running with as much force as possible.

At Missouri, I immediately wrote for the Maneater, which I feel to this day was the greatest force behind my evolution as a journalist. There, I learned how to ask questions, find sources and write creatively. The Missourian gave me a chance to venture out of Columbia and into rural areas that I had never experienced before.

But my greatest experience was my internship at the Columbia Daily Tribune. Working there taught me immense discipline, as I had to turn in stories assigned at 8 a.m. three hours later. The internship also gave me an opportunity to delve into feature writing, which had never been my strong suit. I received a bevy of clips and a lot of good advice from the editors. Although I still felt I had plenty to learn, I did gain knowledge that was simply unobtainable at the J-School.

I feel I have definite strengths as a writer. Some of pieces that I've written while I've been at this school I am very proud of -- especially the articles I wrote when I was at the Tribune. Of course, there are articles that I felt were subpar due to either a careless mimisspellingispelling or slightly wrong fact) or a lack of imagination. While I've improved my ability to spot mistakes and prevent them from going into copy, I still have a lot of work to do. And although I'm sure any newspaper can count on me to work as hard as I can to deliver good stories, I always fear I'm going to let them down as soon as they compliment me.

On the cusp of graduating from college, I am hoping to get hired by a newspaper in either the Midwest or the South. Despite being from a rather Yankeeish enclave, I've spent some of my best times in Florida and Oklahoma visiting relatives. The best case scenario would involve me working for a few years before considering going to graduate school. I definitely want to work in the field before deciding to invest another degree in the realm of journalism.

I guess my ultimate goal would be getting a spot in a major metropolitan newspaper as an op-ed columnist. I know this is not going to happen right away, but I feel if I immerse myself in enough knowledge, I'll be ready.