A 2000 graduate of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, she holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications with a minor in English/Writing. She wrote for the campus newspaper, the University Times, during her four years at UMPI and served as editor for three years. She also worked as a freelance reporter for the Houlton Pioneer Times during college. After graduation, she spent three years as an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer working to decrease poverty in the state and also worked with homeless youth in Bangor before taking a job with the NEWS. An avid cyclist, she speaks French and Russian and volunteers as a state advocate for the Lupus Foundation of America.