About Me

Whether it was my own short fictional stories or writing about a field trip, my love for writing began in elementary school. In elementary school, I also enjoyed playing with computers and remember being amazed when I received my first glimpse of the internet in the first grade. Later, I would combine both passions by creating my own website.

Throughout middle and high school, I expanded on my two passions. My journalism career started in high school with me participating in our student newspaper, The Pirate Press. Later, I started an internship at the local daily, the Boonville Daily News, as well as writing reports on city council meetings for KMZU-FM. I also focused more on my web design during this time, teaching myself HTML and CSS and developing websites for a local non-profit organization. I started a short-lived web design firm, Garrett's Websites, in my freshman year of high school. I won fourth place in the 2014 #BOOM pitch for my design firm.

At the University of Central Missouri, I spent nearly two years at The Muleskinner, covering a wide array of topics ranging from police reports to human interest stories to elevators and boilers. I introduced interactive elements into my work - using Google Maps and slideshows to complement some of my stories.

During my time with The Muleskinner, I also assisted in design for our online and print products. I assisted in the page layout, as well as developing high-quality advertisements for some of our clients.

Outside of journalism and web/print design, my hobbies include vintage computing and bicycling. I dedicated a section of my personal website to Kewanee Boilers, a manufacturer of boilers from 1868 to 2002. Another section of my personal website is dedicated to the AT&T Long Lines network, a microwave relay network used between the 1950s and 1980s for long-distance telephone calls and broadcast signals.

Résumé

Education

• Bachelor of Science, Digital Media Production - University of Central Missouri (Warrensburg, Missouri)
  • Emphasis: Digital journalism
  • August 2017 - May 2021

Journalism

Skills

• Interviewing (interpersonal communication)
• Journalistic writing (AP style)
• Multimedia elements and packages
  • Interactive tools, such as Google Maps
  • Video editing
• Photography
• Videography
• Collecting and interpreting data
• Sunshine/FOIA Requests
• Social media content management

Experience

• California Democrat
  • Reporter
  • July 2022 - present
• Jefferson City News Tribune/Fulton Sun
  • Reporter/page designer
  • July 2021 - November 2021
• The Muleskinner
  • Senior writer, assistant editor
  • January 2018 - May 2019
• KMZU-FM
  • Freelance reporter
  • June 2016 - July 2016
• Boonville Daily News
  • Freelance reporter
  • October 2014 - March 2015

Multimedia

Skills

• Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Audition
  • Premiere Pro
• Audacity
• Audio recording and editing
• Multicamera productions
• Photography
• Podcasting
• Video recording and editing

Experience

• Totally '80s on The Beat
  • Producer, host/DJ
  • March 2021 - May 2021
• UCM Veteran's Voice
  • Producer, co-host, editor
  • January 2020 - March 2021

Design

Design Skills

• Adobe Creative Cloud
  • InDesign
  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator
• Color palettes and theory
• Google Analytics
• Graphic design
• HTML/CSS
• Page layout
• Planning and wireframe design

Print Design Experience

• Jefferson City News Tribune/Fulton Sun
  • Page designer
  • July 2021 - June 2022
• The Muleskinner
  • Design editor, assistant editor
  • January 2018 - May 2019
• CCBC, Inc.
  • Designer: EPC 2015 book
  • July 2015

Web Design Experience

• CCBC, Inc.
  • Webmaster
  • March 2015 - August 2019
• Emancipation Proclamation Celebration
  • Webmaster
  • March 2015 - August 2019