I am a senior at the University and I am majoring in print journalism (against all seeming sanity) and with my major I carry a minor of political science. I grew up in the township of a small town called Grand Rapids, Ohio, located roughly 20 minutes west of Bowling Green, and I graduated from Otsego High School in Tontogany, Ohio in 2005. I enrolled in classes at Owens Community College the following fall and received from there my associates degree in criminal justice in May of 2008.

After graduating from Owens I took some time off school (as I have had a history of doing, explaining my persisting student status to date) so that I could work and accumulate some funds before coming to Bowling Green State University as a journalism major in the fall of 2009. To put it simply, I have had a far greater enthusiasm for this educational pathway than the one in which I received my first degree.

I have written a respectable number of articles for the BG News, with the majority focusing on the music scene in Bowling Green and the surrounding area. Articles written include profiles of local musicians/bands, previews of area concerts as well as feature stories of shows at Bowling Green venues. I cannot, however, guarantee the appearance of my name in any issues of the paper for this academic year as an unfortunate circumstance of taking 18 credit hours and working full time. I intend to try, but the odds of my name in a byline are slim.

I will be graduating with my bachelors degree this May, after which time I would greatly enjoy the opportunity to write for any news entity that can provide me the opportunity to cover music and art, though any paycheck with large enough numbers before its zeros is likely to pique my interest.

My involvement with music does not end with the journalistic attention I have paid it – I too play a variety of instruments, with guitar and percussion taking the largest shares of my focus, and my addiction to my geet box is likely the single greatest threat to me completing my assignments. I enjoy a wide swath of the available musical genres, but my focus most heavily rests with blues, bluegrass, reggae and ambient-influenced rock. As part of an online journalism course I took last spring, I do possess a blog related to my musical interests, titled Bleed Sound, which I invite you to tab through if you wish.

I am also an avid outdoorsman and stubborn environmentalist, and I have been hunting and fishing for nearly the entire reach of my memory. I detest PETA with every fiber of my being.

Class should be fun and I encourage anyone who wants to jam to get at me. Even if you have limited musical talent, you could at least shake some maracas.

PEACE