First newspaper job where I gained more than nine years of experience editing, designing and writing. I learned most of my reporting experience here, covering everything from breaking news, governmental meetings and big press events that featured such figures as George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey.My early experience at the High Point Enterprise newspaper included section editor of the community news pages and duties as an editorial assistant, which included writing obituaries and designing the stocks, weather, and international pages. Wrote numerous feature stories for the community section and did some general assignment reporting before developing the non-profits beat in a new venture for the newspaper; created a strong base of contacts in this role. My last three years at the newspaper, I was the Education reporter, covering the third largest school district in North Carolina. Working in a deadline-driven newsroom empowered me to think on my feet, to find extraordinary story ideas in the simplest things and to write quickly and concisely. Was able to carry these skills with me even after leaving the newspaper business in 2008.