I'll leave you with the words I wrote for the paper's year in review of my work:

At the beginning of the year, I had just made my way from Michigan back to the Lone Star State and interviewed for a position as a multimedia journalist with the Tyler Morning Telegraph. I started in the position the day after Valentine’s Day and can truly say I’ve fallen in love with East Texas.

What a journey it has been exploring the Piney Woods, a place rich with history and steeped in tradition, and its communities, vibrant and full of Southern hospitality. (I lost count of the number of times I was offered a cold drink of sweet tea.) As a native Texan myself, it wasn’t my first rodeo documenting Southern culture. (Though I did finally photograph my first rodeo, which was a blast!)

While every assignment is my favorite assignment, here are some moments that resonated with me this year as I documented them for the Tyler Morning Telegraph:

I watched hundreds of high school and college students walk the stage to receive the diplomas for which they worked so hard.

I hugged our neighbors in Canton as they shared their experiences riding out the tornadoes and began to rebuild their homes and their lives. I had never experienced that amount of devastation firsthand, and seeing the destruction up close hit hard, knowing this community was suffering.

I marveled at the solar eclipse alongside Brook Hill School students and faculty.

I met people who are working to make their community a better place, people like Joel Enge, who runs Kingdom Life Academy and has a passion for butterflies that he shares every spring with a butterfly release; Dwayne Collins, a man who loves to dance and has hosted live music and two-stepping every Tuesday for seven years at Edom City Limits Dance Hall and Opry House; and Rachel Rodgers, one of the first female graduates from Tyler Junior College’s fire academy who soon will be working full time as a firefighter serving our region.

I spent the better part of the fall under the Friday Night Lights and witnessed high school Texas football in all its glory.

I marveled at the beauty of the elaborate, sparkling dresses at the Texas Rose Festival.

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to join over a thousand celebrants for their feast day for Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe before the sun came up.

I learned a lot listening to those young and old while out on assignment and understood that taking the time to listen to their stories was meaningful.

I’m thankful for each person who lets me into their life through my lens and allows me to share their story with others in East Texas and beyond. There will always more stories to be told, and I look forward to pursuing and sharing them with you in the new year.