Update

This blog serves the purpose to update my family and friends on what's going on in my life. Welcome! I'm not sure how often I will get to post something new, but I hope it's enough to keep you interested.

There's been a lot of great news over the last few weeks and thought I would catch everyone up.

At the end of January one of my teachers nominated me for the Damon Runyon scholarship award. So I submitted copies of some of my articles that have been published in the school newspaper to John Ensslin who works at The Denver Post. There were other candidates from my school (Metropolitan State College of Denver) and five other colleges in Colorado that have Journalism programs. Last week John called and informed me that I won the scholarship for Metro (There is a scholarship winner for each school in Colorado). Along with some much needed cash, I also get a membership to the Denver Press Club http://www.denverpressclub.org.
This may not sound exciting to a non-journalist, but having a membership allows me to meet/connect/socialize/network with editors, reporters and publishers from newspapers and magazines nationwide. In fact, on March 25, I am attending a writing conference with the editors and reporters from Time magazine!
I will also be representing Metro State at the Damon Runyon awards banquet on April 7th. I will get to meet the Mayor of Denver (John Hickenlooper....yes, that's his real name) at the VIP reception before the awards ceremony! (No worries, I will have more pictures for you!)

I have also been asked to be a weekly columnist for my community newspaper. It's called "Your Hub" (for Lakewood, CO) and is inserted inside The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News every Thursday. I can write on any subject that comes to mind and is printed with my picture. I have been a regular fixture for the last month.

Spring break is next week (March 20-26), and I will be attending another writing conference with Go World Travel magazine http://www.goworldtravel.com. This is a popular online magazine that has over 100,000 subscribers worldwide. Janna Graber is the founder/editor and she was kind enough to invite me to her house with her staff for an internal writing workship. We will be discussing how to freelance, research and write travel articles. Since this is what I want to do with my degree, I can't wait for this opportunity.

I am still interning for Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine http://www.coloradohomesandlifestyles.com. I will have my first article for them coming out in our May issue (to be released in about a month) and you will also be able to read my article online. It's been a great internship so far--making contacts with local businesses/designers/interior decorators and the who's who of really expensive taste in the Denver area. I've nicknamed this magazine "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in Denver". It's been a lot of fun being able to "play"online and find sleigh beds for $42,000 or chandeliers for $38,000 to publish in the magazine. I don't have a budget when it comes to finding the cool, new trends in home design.

Stay tuned to see pictures from the banquet and read some of my columns that have been featured in the paper.

Take care!