My interest in journalism began in high school when our creative writing teacher brought Jeremy Scahill, investigative journalist, to our school to speak about his work.

I had known I wanted to be a writer or photographer, but I was unfamiliar with journalism being an outlet for both of those interests. I later attended journalism camp and eventually decided to major in journalism at Iowa State University.

I began working at the Iowa State Daily my first semester on campus as a freshman.

After figuring out what I would be passionate writing about I started covering the environmental science/sustainability beat. I have a desire to educate and inform the public on areas related to our environment. I’ve written stories about wind energy, food waste, the growing population and so on.

Even if one person reads my stories, and it resonates with them then I’ve done my job.

I am currently the assistant visuals editor and I have photographed a variety of things, from sports to profiles to concerts. Photojournalism can impact people with just a glance at a photo. I take photos with the hopes that someone can see one of my images and it makes them feel an emotion. Whether that be happy, sad or excited because they’re in the photo.

When I see people sharing photos that I’ve taken of them on their social media accounts, then I know I’m doing my job. Journalism has the power to change people’s perspectives on topics and I hope that with my work I can make that happen for people.