I've grown up in the Washington D.C. area my entire life and have been in love with sports for as long as I can remember. I root for every D.C. team, but my favorite teams are the Washington Commanders, Wizards, Capitals, Mystics, Spirit, and DC United. I'll also occasionally cheer on the Baltimore Ravens here and there.

Growing up, I had wanted to go to medical school and graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.S. in General Biology. But I ultimately decided that wasn't the path for me. Then the COVID-19 pandemic started, and I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. 

I want to be a sports journalist. 

Journalism has been a huge part of my life, I just never realized it until then. Sports was what allowed me to persevere through many difficult times after being diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia that put me at risk of sudden cardiac death. But it wasn't just playing and watching sports. 

I found motivation from athletes' stories of overcoming incredible hardships to achieve what they have. And during the pandemic, so much was going on in society like the vaccine debate, the 2020 Presidential Election, the George Floyd protests, the rise in AAPI hate crimes, and the USWNT's fight for equal pay. I realized just how powerful and important the media is in its ability to impact the lives of others and to shape the world. 

I decided then that I wanted to have that kind of impact. I recently graduated from Georgetown University's Master of Professional Studies in Journalism in 2023. Georgetown taught me that journalists have to be versatile, knowing how to source and write stories as well as how to shoot and edit videos.

I also learned how many of the skills I obtained from working in clinical research after graduating college translated to journalism. I refined skills such as multitasking, being willing to adapt and learn new skills, thinking critically to advance knowledge in the pursuit of truth, compiling and analyzing large datasets quickly and accurately, and working with and leading a diverse team. 

Sports is a microcosm of society, and I believe that there are so many more stories to tell about sports beyond predictions and reactions. My hope is that through sports, I tell stories that motivates others to persevere through difficult times and that inspires change. 

C. S. Lewis