Nicole Hennessy, Neighbor

Nicole once sat down to a formal dinner with her boyfriend’s extended family. As is the case in most situations requiring small talk disguised as genuine conversation, the topic quickly resorted to that of occupation. When asked what she did, Nicole said she was a writer. “Oh, I thought you were an artist,” one diner abruptly replied in a thoughtless tone of voice. Though<br>she did not intend to imply what she so clearly did, – that writing is not an art form – the sentence lingered in Nicole’s mind as she claimed photography and collage, trying to produce any other words than the ones begging to leap off of her tongue.

Transforming language into art is no small feat.

This is something Nicole constantly works toward. Before<br>becoming a journalist she was interested in poetry and creative writing and has since kept those interests, applying them to her journalistic work.

Nicole graduated magna cum laude from Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She held an internship at a Columbus NPR station, WCBE. In conjunction with this internship, Nicole was accepted into the Columbus Program in Intergovernmental Issues, a political science program that takes place in the Ohio Statehouse each year.

Having worked in various departments of KSU’s student<br>newspaper, the Daily Kent Stater, Nicole is a well-rounded writer who even had the opportunity to write from China during her last semester of college.

Since December, 2010 she has written for Patch.com.