While I wasn't familiar with the subject matter, I was able to ask in-depth questions to learn enough about Dr. Newman's research for his essay presentation to write and edit this article for the Missouri State University's English Department blog. Upon his review, he said, "I wanted to email you to compliment you on the wonderful profile you wrote. You managed to turn my academic gobbled-gook into something intelligible—no mean feat! Glad we have you at your post."

The English Department blog at Missouri State University is a way for the department to show students how alum are using their English degrees, but it also acts as a marketing tool. For this article, I interviewed retired professor, Phyllis Bixler, about the scholarship she established in her parent's memory. She was a joy to speak with and excited to read the final copy. 

When Dr. Bixler read the article she said, "You did an excellent job of putting what you learned from me into an article that hits all the important points and moves along nicely. Your article indicates that you are a good listener, are sensitive to the issues involved, and are a good writer!"

This article is in a queue to be published. 

As an intern at Missouri State University's English Department, I interview graduates to see what they are doing now and how their degree program at Missouri State prepared them for their careers. Lydia Welker is one of our graduates and is involved in many interesting projects. She had great advice for students. 

Ashton Young is a graduate of Missouri State University's English Department. Because alum are all over the country, and I'm a remote student employee, many of my interviews are conducted via video call. Like many students, Young wasn't sure what career she wanted to pursue, but she's a great example of how your skills in one field translate to another one. 

There are a lot of interesting locations around the St. Louis area on the Atlas Obscura website. I was excited when I found one that wasn't found in the guide! This is the second article I have published on the travel site.

I wrote this essay for one of my English classes. It's nonfiction with a touch of memoir-writing style. The story is based on a legend local to my hometown. An internet search didn't return much information about Simon Durand and his hidden gold, so I turned to interviewing elderly locals to learn the lore.

This research project was completed for a healthcare writing course at Missouri State University. Massage therapy is a field where clients seek care for wellness benefits, but one in which little research has been done to provide solid scientific proof of those benefits. As a clinical massage therapist whose career has focused on chronic pain management, I believe it's imperative for research to be conducted and therapists to collaborate with healthcare practitioners for the advancement of the field of therapeutic/medical massage. The statistics I present in this research paper are startling. 

I wrote and published this article to Medium.com for an assignment in my Writing for the Web course at Missouri State. We learned to ethically source and integrate photos for interest and use blogging strategies, like lists, for engagement. The COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing at the time, and I had some major concerns about some of the healthcare and cleaning practices I was seeing in the massage industry.

Morels are a big deal in rural Missouri. They're a delicacy that only those with a keen eye can find and deep pockets can afford.  For my food writing class at Missouri State, we had a research project to conduct that challenged us to pick food and learn everything about it. We were to ethically source articles, create a poster presentation, and create a hand-out. My one-page Powerpoint presentation included a QR code my classmates could scan to learn more.   

Tracy Dalton, the instructor of the course, told me she used to save my assignments for last when she was grading because she knew they would be excellent quality and refreshing to read after all the others.

In my food writing course at Missouri State, we reviewed food, appliances, restaurants, and even put together a cookbook! It was late winter during the COVID-19 pandemic, snow was on the ground, and local businesses were struggling.  It was nice to get out, try new recipes, and experience the Cheers environment of this historic bar in St. Charles, Missouri.