By Michelle Beahm

As the new staff reporter for The Whidbey Examiner, I’m excited to explore and learn about this new community.

Though new to Whidbey Island, the Pacific Northwest has always been home. I grew up in Port Orchard, Wash., the county seat of Kitsap County.

I had never visited Whidbey Island and was pleasantly surprised by community-centric Coupeville and the breathtaking sight of Deception Pass. I’m still learning my way around Oak Harbor and Coupeville, but I’m excited for the opportunity to become a part of the local community.

Every time I envisioned my future career as a reporter, I always wanted to be a part of a newspaper that focused so much on the community. I wanted to be a part of a place that felt like home, no matter how new to the area you are. I look forward to reporting on local schools and the community, and I can’t wait to get to know the people who make Coupeville such a wonderful place.

I’ve always loved writing, and when it came time to choose my major, I knew it had to be something related to that. Journalism appealed to me because I like knowing what is going on around me, and I’ve always thought it was important for everybody to have access to that kind of information.

I went to school in Port Orchard up until my junior year in high school, when I started attending Olympic College as a part of the Running Start program. In 2010, I graduated from South Kitsap High School and from Olympic College with my associate’s degree.

I left the state to attend school in Missoula, Mont., working toward my bachelor’s degree in journalism. Though the majority of my classes were in my major, I studied abroad in my second year of university, taking international relations classes at the University of Plymouth in Plymouth, England.

During the summer of 2013, I interned with two Sound Publishing papers, the Central Kitsap Reporter and the Port Orchard Independent. After completing my internship, I earned my bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Montana.

— Michelle Beahm is the new reporter for The Whidbey Examiner. She can be reached at mbeahm@whidbeynewsgroup.com