I grew up going to a conservative Christian church, but I didn’t really get interested in the philosophy side of religion until college. When I was in high school, I got interested in Mormonism when my brother started dating a Mormon girl.

During my freshman year, I went to Salt Lake City with other students to talk with Mormons and learn about Mormonism, but the trip turned into something much more. My eyes were opened to the deeper issues between religions. I saw first hand many difficulties people have when they talk with people of other faiths.

Those experiences helped clarify my desire to be a journalist on religious topics. In the following years of college, I returned to Utah a few times, wrote for the school paper for two semesters and was editor for a third semester. During my junior year, I spent a semester in Washington D.C. at the Washington Journalism Center and had an internship at Baptist Press. I have also talked with many atheists, agnostics, Catholics, Mormons and Baptists on various online forums.

Finally, I just graduated from Corban College with a degree in Journalism.