What has your life been like since leaving Southeastern? What do you do for a living? And have you married and/or had children?
After graduation from SLU in 1998, I moved to New Orleans and spent more than 20 years as a multimedia journalist for the Associated Press covering a wide range of stories from Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the city’s popular music festivals, Mardi Gras celebrations and coverage of cultural icons, including Brad Pitt, Fats Domino, Ellen Degeneres and Sandra Bullock. It was the experience of a lifetime, and I cherished every minute. In 2023, I began a new chapter at Tulane University, where I serve as manager of media relations. Beyond work, my husband, David (also a 1998 Southeastern graduate), and I are celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary this year and are proud parents of two incredible daughters, Jillian (15) and Vivienne (9).
What do you remember most about your time at Southeastern and working with student publications?
What I remember most are the late nights – especially Wednesdays – when we were racing against the clock to get the paper ready for print. Somehow, it always came down to the wire, and looking back, I’m not quite sure how we pulled it off. At the time, I was juggling several jobs: working for The Lion’s Roar, KSLU radio, stringing for The Advocate and L’Observateur, while also waiting tables and bartending at Nuvolari’s and the Holiday Inn. Sleep was scarce, but the experience was invaluable. I learned a tremendous amount, built lifelong friendships and managed to graduate debt-free. In the end, all that hard work was absolutely worth it.
Give me your back story. How did you wind up at Southeastern and interested in working with student publications?
The short answer is simple: The Lion’s Roar offered me a paying job as a freshman reporter. While I had been accepted to other universities, the opportunity to earn money while gaining real-world experience in the field I was studying made Southeastern stand out. I also vividly remember hearing Robin Roberts talk about her own days at Southeastern – as both a basketball player and a budding journalist – which was incredibly inspiring. On top of that, Southeastern’s proximity to my hometown of New Orleans made it easy to stay connected with family through weekend visits. When I put it all together, I realized I didn’t have a good reason not to choose Southeastern. It just felt like the right fit.
What would you say is the biggest thing you learned while at Southeastern?
At Southeastern, I learned how to juggle competing responsibilities and manage all kinds of people – through both mistakes and triumphs – which truly shaped me into the person I am today. Balancing jobs with different skill sets, expectations and bosses, university-level coursework, and a social life taught me resilience, time management and adaptability. It wasn’t always easy, but those experiences gave me the skills and confidence I needed to build a successful career. Perhaps most importantly, I discovered that success doesn’t come from perfection but from persistence and learning along the way. And somewhere in the middle of it all, I even managed to find love, making my time at Southeastern as personally meaningful as it was professionally formative.
Southeastern Student Publications Alumni 