I’ve been told that first impressions are both the longest lasting and most misleading. I happen to agree, but I’ll do my best to paint an accurate picture of who I am.
My childhood years were spent in Eastpointe, but back then it was called East Detroit. I went to Catholic school for my K-12 education before moving to Rochester for my college years.
I am the second of four children. I have an older brother, Justin; a younger brother, Ryan; and a younger sister, Melanie. My family is very close and supportive of each other. I’m thankful to have such strong ties, especially because I know not everyone is so lucky.
I guess you could say I knew I wanted to write in some fashion since I was in the fifth grade. In college, I double-majored in English and journalism, which was probably not the best idea if my concern was being wealthy later in life. Fortunately, it isn’t and I’m just happy to be writing for a living.
Sure, being a journalist isn’t the most glamorous job in the world, it’s one of the rare jobs that can be different every single day. The world is full of interesting stories and I love hearing and telling them.
When I’m not writing, I’m usually reading or going to the movies. I’ve been a big movie fan for a long time, and have even worked as a movie critic in the past. When the academy awards are held every year, I’m usually the only person I know who has seen most of the nominated films.
With no shame, I can say I’m not what you call a sports buff. I still try to catch a game on television when I can, but being a spectator on occasion is about as far as it goes. Growing up, I tried out for the usual sports, but my most prominent memories from back then include being scolded by my little league coach for daydreaming in right field, and getting so tangled up in a soccer goal net that the game had to be stopped while people freed me. Needless to say, I never found my niche in the more conventional sports.
In college, however, I joined and eventually became captain of the fencing team. So I guess that goes to show that not being good at football or basketball doesn’t mean you can’t be good at any sports.
It’s safe to say I’m very opinionated, and when I feel strongly about something, I’m fairly quick to let people know it. People use to stand on soapboxes and shout about whatever they felt was important to them, or something they felt other people should know. So it seems fitting to name my column ‘Soapbox? since I’ll be using it in the same way, though I’m hoping to keep the aimless ranting to a minimum.
I’m not one of those people who will sound off about something when I don’t know much about it. At age 24, I’ll be the first to admit there’s a lot I don’t know, but that should never discount my opinion on topics on which I’m knowledgable. It’s actually a pet peeve of mine to see someone get worked up and arguing passionately about something when it’s clear they don’t know much about the topic, so you won’t see me doing that any time soon.
I can’t say for sure what you should expect to read about in the future, but I’m sure not everyone will agree with me. I welcome debate though, and look forward to hearing from anyone.
All opinions aside, I’m looking forward to working in Clarkston and learning about the community.