I grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, and joined my middle school paper staff when I was 12. (I wrote one-paragraph movie reviews and helped create the crossword puzzle.) Ten years later, I graduated summa cum laude from Hampton University, a small, private school in southeastern Virginia, with seven newspaper internships and numerous other media experiences.

I am a journalist, and I am also a mediocre poet, a game show fanatic, a pescetarian, an Arab, a Pisces and an INFP.

Things I like:

  • road trips
  • caramel
  • silence
  • falafel
  • cats
  • poetry
  • taking pictures of people who don't like to be photographed
  • coffee
  • dark chocolate
  • handwritten notes
  • find-the-differences puzzles
  • the smell of gasoline
  • clutter
  • rearranging furniture

Things I don't like:

  • strawberries
  • preachy vegetarians
  • cold weather
  • the words "traffic" and "roadkill"
  • scary movies
  • malls

Random facts:

  • I have visited 35 states.
  • Arabic was my first language. French was my third. I'm relearning both.
  • I could stay up all night with a box of crayons and a coloring book.
  • I have five brothers and sisters.
  • My name means "dignity" in Arabic.
  • I'm a Big Sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters.
  • My favorite flavor of ice cream is banana.