Mary Andom is a 2007 graduate of Western Washington University located in the Pacific Northwest. She majored in print journalism with a minor in political science. Andom is originally from the north east African nation of Eritrea and credits her parent�s harrowing journey escaping the war-torn country and growing up in her culturally diverse neighborhood in Seattle for her inspiration to become a journalist. In high school and early college, Andom penned columns for The Seattle Times youth section NEXT. She was also involved in her school newspaper, The Western Front, as a reporter and later as a columnist. Last summer, Andom interned at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Andom hopes to become a newspaper reporter either covering education or immigration/refugee issues.