A suggestion changed everything. Really, that’s all it took. My best friend’s cousin had taken an Intro to Journalism class, liked it, and suggested we do the same. So we did…turns out, we quite liked it, too.

I didn’t realize at the time how ahead of the curve ACHS was. I walked into the University of Iowa knowing the Adobe Creative Suite, AP style writing, as well as how to shoot and print my own photography (ahem, before blissful digital advancements). Professors were impressed and I was empowered. It seemed only natural that Journalism fill the space on my student file where the word ‘Undeclared’ had been.

I grasped my Tom Tom knowledge and sprinted with it. More photography courses peppered my schedule along with creative writing workshops, typography, and web design. Basically, I spent a whole lot of time in front of Apple computers. As graduation fast forwarded, I packed my creative tool kit into a corporate real estate career, whereby I served as head writer of RFP documents and Director of Marketing.

At 33 years old, I’m twice the age I was when I wrote my first newspaper article back in 1997. So it’s amusing across the board that I’m now a professional writer and newspaper columnist. I’m penning books, editing novels, working with lit agents, and using the skills I honed back in the halls of ACHS. It’s a massively fun career but the best part has been the people I’ve worked with along the way (Tom Tom staffers, included). They are fresh laughter in a quiet room—simply the best. And to think this all stemmed from a simple suggestion…