Reflecting Back on Past Essays and Writing

The stack is about three inches tall—roughly nine manila file folders’ worth. Inside them lies three years of intense writing from my undergraduate studies, created 15 years ago while earning my degree in journalism with a minor in creative writing. The sheer volume of writing I crammed into those years burned me out, prompting me to pivot to the business world for employment immediately after college. It would take me five years to pick up a pen and notepad again, this time as a reporter for a small rural newspaper in Wisconsin.