Much of my childhood is spent reading. My mom, a librarian and former teacher, fosters an early love of books. Each night, she reads to me and my sister, classics like Maniac Macgee and Tuck Everlasting. The library is my favorite after-school haunt. In the backs of my notebooks I feverishly write short stories and fan fiction with plots suspiciously similar to those of my favorite books of the day.

In high school, I join the yearbook staff. I take to copy-editing my peers’ spreads without their permission. The following year, a designated copy editor position is created just for me.

I leave home in NC for college in DC at American University. During Welcome Week, I join the literary magazine and the radio station. I will go on to hold various genre editor positions at the magazine and submit much of my poetry to each volume. At the radio station, I work my way up from music staff member to director, host a radio show with friends, and contribute spreads to the biannual zine.

To support my voracious appetite for concert tickets, paperbacks, and oversized tee shirts, I start working at a venue/cafe/restaurant/bar as a barista and ticket-taker. Between my freshman and sophomore years, I intern at Merge Records, an indie label based in Durham. I spend most of the summer in the basement warehouse packaging mail order, organizing physical releases, and updating Web content.

I spend the first half of 2019 studying abroad in Rome, swiftly completing my art history minor with classes on Renaissance-era villas and mosaics of the Byzantine empire. Back in NC for the summer, I intern at RedEye, a leading worldwide distribution and music services company. My favorite task is creating the weekly “New & Fresh” playlist every Friday morning. To cap off my time in DC, I spend the fall semester of my senior year interning at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, writing press releases for object acquisitions, taking notes during curatorial meetings, ogling items in archival storage, and haunting the empty Hall of Presidents exhibit before the museum opens.

The COVID-19 pandemic hits with just 2 months left of my senior year. I wrap up my communications degree digitally and return to my job from the previous summer at a home-decor retailer, now in liquidation. In the fall, I am hired as an assistant copy editor at J&J Editorial, a homegrown publishing services company that is acquired by Wiley a year later. I mainly edit peer-reviewed manuscripts and scholarly articles for clients such as the Obesity Journal, the Journal of Librarianship, and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ NeoReviews, to name a few.

To diversify my reportoire, I start doing freelance copy-editing and fact-checking work for Wanderlust Content Studio, a full-service agency for DMO custom publications, visitor magazines, and travel guides. I launch a Substack newsletter in 2024, publishing personal essays with a pop culture slant on topics like true crime, Ken Burns, and book-to-movie adaptations. In early 2026, my time at Wiley comes to an end after 4.5 years.