After five years of covering the Pittsburgh Pirates for MLB.com, I am now in my fourth year on the Cardinals' beat. The position change brought this Mizzou grad closer to Columbia -- certainly a perk I have not overlooked.

Though I spent four formative years living in Missouri, I am a native of true SEC country. It was in a house in Marietta, Ga., that I set my sights on a career in sports journalism. That, of course, brought me to Mizzou, where four years and lots of money later, I graduated with degrees in news-editorial journalism and French. To this point, that French degree has served little purpose other than looking nice framed on my wall.

I'm an avid tennis player, having played since I was seven, and I still try to get on the court as often as baseball season will allow. I plan on traveling to seven continents (yes, all seven) during my lifetime, and am proud to have served and empowered women and children through multiple mission trips to the Middle East/Asia.

And, as any Mizzou grad should, I despise anything that has to do with a blue and red jayhawk and refuse to capitalize kU because, of course, it's neither a proper place, nor a proper noun.