Outside of my husband and family, I couldn’t think of a bigger blessing than working at Channel 9 Eyewitness News. I’ve arrived here after 11 years of climbing the ladder of the news industry, and I’m ecstatic to be back home in Central Florida. I first moved here after college and began to work as a Production Assistant at WVEN Orlando, after which I worked a short stint at WESH, before moving to Columbus, Ga. There, I started WLTZ’s first morning show. I worked overnight producing, editing and then anchoring a 2½ hour morning show. After two years there, I was offered a position as an anchor and reporter at WOFL. There, I covered the 2016 presidential election, the aftermath of the massacre at Pulse nightclub, the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and numerous hurricanes, including Matthew, Irma and Maria. I received two Emmy nominations for my work in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Returning to the island after 10 years to see it destroyed was not just a professional endeavor, it was a personal one. I still have family on the island, and although they made it out alive, thousands did not. The stories I was able to tell of those still suffering four months after the storm passed, are the stories I’m most proud of in my journalistic career. From the elderly couple who was using a cooler to store food because they still didn’t have electricity four months after the storm, to passing homeless camps on the beach and visiting my childhood babysitter who shot at thieves in the night trying to steal her generator, the stories of strife and perseverance were plentiful. It was my greatest honor to tell their stories, and it’s an honor I will continue here in Central Florida. After four years at WOFL, I moved to Southwest Florida where I served as a breaking news anchor at WINK, alerting the community of the most urgent news overnight and preparing viewers for their day. I’m grateful that I will be able to perform that same task here in Central Florida, telling stories accurately, ethically and respectfully.