This is the story of Manisha, a girl born into the lowest social caste who used education as a way to overcome the oppressive system that has loomed over her community for hundreds of years. This is the most important story I have ever written. I remember spending the night at Manisha's house with her family and feeling so welcomed by the homemade curry and the circle of plastic chairs and the smoke that rose from the cow-manure fueled fire in the morning. I remember scribbling in my reporters notebook while she told about years of discrimination. Mostly, I remember her gentleness, her kindness and her strength. Manisha recently sent me a WhatsApp message saying she loved the story. I want the whole world to read it, but her words were enough.

In January of 2020, I had the privilege of reporting in rural Haryana, India with a team of 19 other journalists as part of the Bethel Textura project, an ongoing international storytelling effort. This story features Shimla and Geeta, a mother and daughter who use their pasts of domestic abuse to hope for a brighter future for young girls like Geeta's daughter, Shivangi. This isn't a regular story. This is the result of my need to share the lives of these inspiring women and their willingness to let me in. Thank you for reading.

2019 was a record year for homicides in St. Paul. A team of student journalists and I set out to cover the impact of the deaths through the eyes of a diverse set of St. Paul residents, each affected in individual ways. I met Aasia Ross at a community gathering organized by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. After several follow up interviews, I learned that she is not only a community justice advocate, but a personal friend of the late Raumez Ross, an 18-year-old man killed by gunfire in St. Paul. She shared stories of her time mentoring Ross in juvie as well as the moment she heard of his death.

2019 was a record year for homicides in St. Paul. A team of student journalists and I set out to cover the impact of the deaths through the eyes of a diverse set of St. Paul residents, each affected in individual ways. I spoke with Coach Tom Orth about processing the death of his 17-year-old team captain as well as moving forward as the Vice Principal of Henry Sibley High School, where a memorial sign still stands in the snow outside the front entrance.

I spent five weeks during the summer of 2019 in Fort Myers Florida writing longform for ECHO Global Farm, a non-profit agricultural research farm that studies renewable crops and farming processes in order to educate small-scale farmers across the globe. My stories have been published in several newsletters and will continue to be used for future editions. This newsletter contains a story about a training in the rural village of Sanekuy in Mali and a profile piece on the personal histories of three new board members.

Alopecia, a hair loss disease, affects at least six students and faculty at Bethel University where, between physics majors and English professors, it has changed more than appearance. This story took three weeks, six in-depth interviews, days of writing, photographing and video editing and one overarching through line. The final product showcases the individual effects of a disease on campus and the hopeful message that these students and staff are not defined by a diagnosis.

Beaningful is a non-profit coffee shop in downtown St. Paul that provides employment opportunities to residents who struggle with language barriers, poverty and mental disabilities. In the lobby of a high rise, where the coffee shop is located, I learned about Marie Claire, an immigrant from the Congo who is working on an autobiography about her multi-year separation from her daughter. I spoke with Kristina, an immigrant from Russia who uses her manager position as a way to become more comfortable with the English language. And I heard stories from LaShaya, a woman with a background of poverty and learning disabilities who makes coffee and hot sandwiches to provide housing for her mother and her.

A double amputee, Elena Evans made strides longer than she ever imagined possible. Before this story, I had no idea that Elena had prosthetic legs. After getting to know her, her friends and her parents, I gained an understanding of the realities of Elena's medical journey as well as her childhood as an orphan in Russia and her eventual adoption. This story recently received the first place award for Human Interest Story from the Minnesota Newspaper Association.