Stories shape who we are and what we can become. Without stories, I would have never known that I was asexual, that I am a human design projector, or that I am a complete genre nerd. Humans are meaning-making creatures, we are constantly composing narratives in our head about the world and our place in it. Thanks to people like Brené Brown, I understand that I have the ability to shape these stories in a way that most serves who I want to become. I’ve always loved stories. I was the kid who would get in trouble for reading in class. I was transfixed and transported by these tales and I hope to do the same with my own writing. Stories have the power to make us feel, make us think, make us change. I love that I can revisit my favorite stories for nostalgic purposes but also always glean something new depending on where I am in life. Sometimes we just need an escape, to gallivant with a group of weirdos, other times we may want to be intellectually challenged and sometimes we just need validation for our own experiences. Stories bring all this and more. I have been on a quest to further my storytelling skills for quite some time. After my undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, I completed a TV writing certificate through UCLA extensions. The writing bug had grabbed a hold of me tight. Since then, I have studied under many teachers from Corey Mandell to Jessica Hinds. I believe that you can learn from anywhere and from anyone, so I cast my net wide. Currently I am attending a low-residency MFA program in TV & screenwriting at Stephens College. The coursework is challenging and my cohort grounds me in much needed community. With an emphasis on mentorship, I can feel my creative process growing every day. I’ve been constantly continuing my education because I want to be the kind of storyteller that moves people. That makes them feel like they belong. That they're not broken. And they’re not alone. I do this by exploring fantastical genre realms where weirdos wrestle with worthiness. This has been the biggest challenge in my life - one I’m still fighting - and I know others are as well. There is so much power in hearing someone else’s story and seeing a reflection of yourself and your struggles. These stories have brought me so much comfort over the years. It was through a story, Loveless by Alice Oseman, that I finally saw a representation of myself in media. I learned what asexuality was and that it absolutely defined my experience. It was validation in a way that I’d never experienced before. There wasn’t anything wrong with me. I wasn’t broken. I was just different, and that was a beautiful thing. My greatest wish is for my stories to bring this same sense of validation to others.