It has been the thrill of a lifetime to rekindle my passion for writing and journalism through an internship at the Fredericksburg Free Press as a newsroom assistant. I plan to finish my bachelor’s degree at the University of Mary Washington and one day return to the Fredericksburg Free Press as a full-fledged reporter.
My top five stories of 2024 are as follows:
Fredericksburg man has a frankly bun-believable time bringing smiles to motorists’ faces
- This is, hands down, my top favorite story I wrote this year because I was able to meet one of the most infamous icons of Fredericksburg, the Hot Dog Man, and capture photos of him in action. It was a blast to be able to catch people’s reactions in the moment and see the pure joy he got from it.
2. This is a very close second to my top favorite story covered this year because I am an animal lover through and through! To be able to raise awareness of the prevalent problem shelters around the nation of low resources and not enough space and bring attention to The Corgi Clay Art Center’s fundraiser to help combat it was great.
Little (window) shop of horrors: Bizarre display has antiquarians tongue-tied
3. This makes my top five stories of the year because it was so much fun to go out into downtown Fredericksburg to find this mysterious antique we learned about on a reddit thread (Okay, I’ll admit it, I got lost trying to find it!) and take in passersby reactions to the antique and talk with those who were selling it to find out its origins.
Crisis Through the Hoop takes a shot at increasing mental health awareness
4. This is a story near and dear to my heart, as someone who has struggled with mental health my whole life, and it’s so heartwarming to know there are events like this to help teens get access to the help they may need.
Event at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center engages teens with surgical precision
5. As an avid Grey’s Anatomy fan since childhood, it was amazing to be able to not only watch and meet teenagers who were interested in the medical field and try out the different technologies that doctors use regularly, and also try it out myself donned in scrubs and all to go in an operating room to try my hand at a surgical robot!
