I am a Baltimore-based, Midwest-bred journalist with a varied resume and a love of puns. I will probably be the first person you meet from the state of North Dakota, where my roots stretch all the way back to my paternal great-grandmother packing up her life in Norway at 22 to instead live the homesteader life. So my packing up my own life in the Midwest after college for the East Coast is, I like to think, a family trait.

I grew up surrounded by stories — from those well-worn, oft-told inside jokes at family gatherings to the nearest science fiction or fantasy novel I would pick up. Stories are why I pursued journalism and they’re still what I love about it.

Since graduating from Macalester College with a degree in political science (and minors in media studies and — nerd alert — mathematics), I have written in numerous capacities, including for newspapers, nonprofits, a political campaign and magazines, winning several awards in the process.

So, let us tell the next great story.