Growing up on the East Coast of Massachusetts, just a 10-minute drive from TD Garden, I always appreciated the Boston powerhouse of sports. But my passion for sports storytelling didn't come until much later.
It was Week 17 in 2019 when the San Francisco 49ers had a playoff bye week on the line. The score against the Seattle Seahawks was 26-21 in favor of the Niners. With eight seconds on the clock and the Seahawks inches away from a game-winning touchdown on fourth-and-goal, I sat on the edge of my couch thinking of all the offensive plays Seattle could run and what the San Francisco defensive response would need to be. As tight end Jacob Hollister headed towards the end zone, Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner made a clean stop just one yard away from a Seattle touchdown.Those final eight seconds were a storyline I'd remember forever. Three years later, I decided to pursue a dual degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and added Sports Journalism to my academic plan. Combining my passion for creative writing and sports, I marked my place in a field I never thought I could call home.
I joined The Massachusetts Daily Collegian as a sophomore that same year. While I originally was excited to start covering football, hockey was the first beat I joined and eventually my hardest goodbye as a senior. I grew a love for the double overtimes, long nights, and months of interviews for a story I stepped back from knowing it's exactly how I imagined. I developed a passion for feature writing - even in hockey, it was a reminder of my love for storytelling all the way back in Week 17.
The football press box still remained a special place for me. Walking in every Saturday with my beat members, I knew being the only woman in the press box would test me. It made me more confident in my writing and knowledge, and even a 13-hour, lightning-induced evening in the press box couldn't keep me away.
As I look towards my future career, I know my home is in a media room, a press box, and hopefully in team reporting long-term.
