In high school, I played a sport every season — soccer, volleyball, basketball, and softball. But, because I went to a small school, we often had to travel long distances to play other small schools in rural Nevada. As a result, I became a writer, crafting stories to entertain the team while we journeyed, sometimes overnight, to be dealt a crushing defeat by a high school with fewer than 100 students. (Nothing cheered the team up more than a good story and a trip to 7-11 for slurpees.)

After high school, I earned my Bachelor’s degree in English. I was the editor-in-chief of my university’s student newspaper. After completing my degree, I went on to study screenwriting for film and television.

I’ve always enjoyed coming up with new ideas, and I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about writing during my communications career. Now, as a PhD candidate, I’m applying those writing basics to a new field — academia. During the first year of my doctorate, I hosted a weekly writing group for the other PhDs. Now, I happily co-write with other researchers via Zoom as a member of Research Accelerator.