Since returning from Chile, Woodruff was hired by ReaderвЂ™s Digest, laid off by ReaderвЂ™s Digest two weeks later, worked at an online news site, started a blog and was finally hired as a reporter at Business Insider. I learned to trust myself and that life was more than just вЂfill in the blankвЂ™ pages.вЂќ

It was the kind of freedom I could taste each morning when I woke up and watched the sun rise in a city that I fell in love with in the first couple of days. вЂњFor the first time in four years, I was free. вЂњI carry the lessons I learned there with me every day,вЂќ she says. Woodruff returned to Athens and followed her instincts, which led her to move to Santiago, Chile shortly after graduation to work at a news website.

So I put on my blinders and followed my gut.вЂќ вЂњAnd all I was really doing the whole time was sabotaging myself by listening to others and looking what they were doing. I had this idea stuck in my head that there was a certain order to achieving success,вЂќ she said. вЂњI realized there, for the first time, that I didnвЂ™t have to follow any cookie cutter path to success. The summer after her freshman year in college, Woodruff traveled to Argentina, looking to see some of the world she said she was excited to write about. In her short but accomplished career, Woodruff has worked at several publications, including the Santiago Times in Santiago, Chile the Athens Banner-Herald the Gainesville Times ReaderвЂ™s Digest and Business Insider, where she currently works.

вЂ™09) return to her alma mater to serve as the eventвЂ™s keynote speaker. More than 100 awards were presented in recognition of outstanding work in high school newspapers, magazines, news websites, yearbooks, literary magazines and broadcast news shows.ДЄpproximately 450 high school students and journalism teachers saw Mandi Woodruff (A.B.J. вЂ“ High school journalism programs across the state were recognized at the 2012 Georgia Scholastic Press Association Awards Ceremony recently held at the Classic Center in Athens and sponsored by the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Uga high school programs