Some of my articles
A feature
The only Black college band in Miami, The ROAR Marching Band at Florida Memorial University, formed in 2020. In 2023, it got a surprising invitation to play abroad in France. I captured the details as they awaited their adventure, including a student’s thoughts: “I’m so excited to see everything I’ve seen in movies — the Eiffel Tower, the food, the scenery … People will be like, ‘Why are you taking pictures of the garbage can?’ I’ll be like, ‘That’s a beautiful garbage can!’”
Heart-warming surprise
Jennifer Freeman dropped out of high school after the ninth grade to care for her brother and sister when her mother died. Years later, she accomplished her dream of graduating from college. Her son, who was in the Coast Guard deployed overseas, surprised his mom and attended her Broward College graduation.
Accountability
I first covered how the president of Florida International University, the largest public university in South Florida, resigned in January 2022 after an employee that worked for him confided in a colleague that he had been harassing her. Later that year, I found out he was planning to return to campus so I wrote a story about that — and the ensuing faculty indignation. Then I wrote this story: “After outcry, ex-FIU president won’t return to teach. But he will still get a $376K salary”
Conflict in higher ed
The president of the University of Miami unexpectedly fired the dean of the law college — the first Hispanic dean and an openly gay leader — in the spring of 2021. I covered the breaking news when it first happened, as well as the events that followed: About 60 alumni sent a letter to top university administrators strongly criticizing the firing and one of the UM law school’s vice deans resigned in protest.
A Spelling Bee champ
Here’s the start of a story about a spelling bee that I recently wrote:
“After he won the Miami Herald Spelling Bee on Wednesday, Lancaster Gramer credited his lucky charm, which he ate right before the competition: strawberries.
”When the judge green-lighted his final word — ‘succès fou,’ which means an extraordinary success, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary — as ‘correct,’ Lancaster closed his eyes and grabbed his mane of curls. He fell on his knees, covering his mouth and nose with his hands.
“‘It was a surprise,’ said Lancaster, 11. ‘In second grade, I came but lost. I’m very excited. I’ve never been in a plane before.’
Bahamas trip
Days after Hurricane Dorian tore through the Bahamas in late 2019, a cruise ship arrived with about 1,100 Bahamian evacuees to the Port of Palm Beach. I traveled with them and told the story of a survivor that arrived with a single one-dollar Bahamian bill holed up in the middle pocket of her wallet.
“This is all I have,” she told me, surveying her soiled yellow slippers and tan handbag — the little she managed to rescue from Dorian’s claws, “but I feel good now because I got to leave. When I came on the cruise... that was the first time I smiled since I heard about the storm last week.”
Engaging content
A crucial part of writing articles is making sure the targeted audience stays engaged. That often involves a specific tone and angle. When Broward County Public Schools, the sixth largest school district in the country, was searching for a new superintendent, I covered the process closely, often working 12-hour shifts to stay on top of it. As part of it, I produced this story breaking down the finalists for the top job: “One of these three could become the next superintendent of Broward Schools. Who do you like?”
Long-distance reporting
In 2020, Eta, an “extremely severe” Category 4 hurricane with winds as strong as 140 mph, struck Central America with record-breaking storms. I contacted victims through networking and social media channels, and told the story of a family who weathered the phenomenon in a two-story car wash with about 20 others for three days until they were rescued.
A trailblazer
A 10-year-old who towered at nearly 5-foot-8 like some of her peers, but wore ponytails and other hair-dos carefully styled by her mom, became the youngest graduate in Broward College’s 61-year history in 2021. I wrote about her accomplishment.