Last week, I walked across the stage to receive my diploma and less than a week later I walked through the doors of The LaGrange Daily News to start my first day as a general assignment reporter.

The time between my first interview at the LDN and my first day of work was a short timeframe, but it feels like I have been waiting forever for this moment. 

I grew up in a little town by the Mobile Bay in Fairhope, Alabama, but if we are being honest, I truly grew up when I went to college. Troy University in Troy, Alabama, has been my home for the past four years and as much as I am going to miss the charisma of my little town, I cannot be more ecstatic to start this new journey.

During my four-years at Troy, I was a Division I athlete running cross country and track, a member of the sorority Alpha Gamma Delta, the writing editor of the university’s yearbook and a reporter for another Boone newspaper, The Troy Messenger.

I learned much from my old, little southern town.

Some of those lessons include that it’s occasionally OK to slow down and let the world pass you by, rodeos will shut down the main roads so leave early, and give directions based on who lives where, not by street names.

But the most important thing I learned was that if you’re out on a six-mile run and about pass out from the Alabama humidity, you can knock on anyone’s door for a glass of water and they will be there for you.

I love the outdoors and hiking, extremely loud music on the stereo, dancing in the kitchen while I cook and laughing until I cry.

My two dogs, Jackson and Millie, are the center of my world, next to working, taking pictures and running. If you see me, I am most likely running or taking endless photos of my pups.

After three-years of photographing portrait shots, graduations, engagements, families and now weddings, I never leave the house without my camera.

When it comes to reporting and being a journalist, I love talking to strangers and telling their story.

Moving to a new state, city and place gives me that opportunity to talk and meet with new people.

Everyone and every place has a story, and I cannot wait to tell the ones from this area.