Degree(s): BJ '02 (News-Editorial)

Whereabouts: United States, Pontiac, Missouri

What do you do?
Since 2006 I have been managing my family’s business, Pontiac Cove Marina, on Bull Shoals Lake in southwest Missouri. I also write a monthly column as well as other features for my hometown weekly community newspaper, the Ozark County Times.

What type of column do you write for the newspaper?
I write a monthly column called Living Well. It’s about health and fitness, food and lifestyle. It’s just an overall tribute to living a good and healthy life in a small community.

What was the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
I cherish my time spent at the Missourian. I learned more that semester about how to be a good journalist than I did in any classroom, because it was real hands-on work. I believe that experience gave me an edge over other young journalists when I first entered the job market.

What would be your best advice to current students?
Keep an open mind and be flexible when you enter the job market, especially in these tough economic times.

What do you consider your greatest professional achievement?
I am thankful for the variety of jobs and experiences I’ve had since I graduated from MU. I worked as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper in Sarasota, Fla., right out of college; a managing editor at 417 Magazine in Springfield, Mo., and now I’m writing for my hometown newspaper, where I started out many years ago. I feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

What are your next career steps?
I want to find other outlets for my writing and editing. And I hope to write a book someday (and be published!).