I owe my career to a little publication called The South End. From 2006 to 2009, a small group of journalism majors—plus me—wrote, designed and delivered the daily, student-run newspaper at Wayne State. It went like this: write, photograph, edit edit edit, print, repeat. I couldn’t get enough.

Our office was housed above the cafeteria of a defunct psychiatric hospital. It provided us with strange noises, smells and I suspect a few out-there ideas. We worked long hours reporting on our small neck of the woods, now referred to as Midtown.

It taught me the importance of stories, how to work fast, organize a group and learn from my mistakes (I no longer add an “e” to the end of the word develop).

Most importantly it taught me to follow my gut.

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