“I originally studied journalism in college, where I learned the foundations of writing for newspapers, magazines, news websites, broadcast news, and more. There was also light instruction on freelance writing, but most familiarity with the practice came from actually doing it. During college, I freelance wrote a couple of articles for smaller publications, which was a great experience in terms of refining story ideas and working with editors. 

After graduating, I accepted a fellowship at a news startup. Once that ended, I had to figure out my next steps. While I was hoping to land a full-time job, that did not immediately happen. Instead, I started freelance writing for another news startup. They could only offer me 20 hours a week, but I took it. During those 20 hours a week, I wrote a couple of news blogs and one bigger feature story. Eventually, I was offered a full-time position with the publication because they were now familiar with my work and there was a job opening.