I may have been born in Huntsville, but I’ve always been a Madison girl at heart.

I attended Monrovia Middle School and Catholic High School. I’m now in my third year of college as a senior in journalism at Auburn University.

When the opportunity to intern with The Madison Record came up, I immediately jumped on it. And I am so thankful to have been chosen as their summer intern.

To provide some background on myself, I’ve worked as editor, managing editor and assistant news editor of The Auburn Plainsman—the campus paper. The job gave me great work experience. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview the likes of Governor Robert Bentley, author Greg Mortenson and America’s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani.

I’ve somehow managed to graduate in three years. How I actually pulled it off is beyond me.

Since the date for my upcoming wedding happened to be the same day as what would have been my graduation, I was given permission to walk in May.

And now, I have the opportunity to put everything I’ve learned into action. And I hope to make the faculty of Auburn’s journalism department proud.

Even more importantly, I hope to make the readers proud.

While this internship may be all that is standing between me and a diploma, I do view it as a job and take it seriously. 

I’m looking forward to working as a reporter for this paper. I am happy to have the opportunity to keep the community up-to-date on local events and meet many fellow residents of Madison.

As cheesy as it may sound, it really is an honor to cover stories about my favorite place in the world—home.

I ask the local community to feel welcome to start a dialogue with me.

Let me know if you’ve heard of an event you think we should cover. Let me know if you think you have a great idea for a story, or if there’s something you want to learn more about. Maybe we can write about it! Even let me know how I’m doing if you feel so inclined. You can contact me any time at laura.maxwell@themadisonrecord.com.