About Me
My name is Grace Manthey and I am a masters journalism student at the University of Southern California. I graduated from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut with a bachelor of arts in journalism and a minor in math and business. I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska with my triplet brother and sister. During my undergrad years, a was on the acrobatics and tumbling team, and I did competitive cheerleading for 11 years.
I have always considered myself a contradiction. Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska I was a nerd, and cheerleader. When I went to QU I was a nerd who was also an athlete. Now, I’m a journalist who also loves math.
My love of math is what drove me to my minor in math at QU, and it’s launched my interest in data journalism. I love playing with a dataset to find just a little piece of information that can lead to a story.
But I didn’t just become a statistician because I like telling stories, specifically the stories of people. I like being able to take data and put a face to the numbers by explaining the impact of the data with a real life person. A story I did about climate change and farming is an example of that -- the increase in temperature is one thing, but farming, food and livelihood is another.
But I think my love for data also comes from a desire to get out of my comfort zone. The data world is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and organizations release new data. Because of that evolution, journalists need to be able to get out of their comfort zone and try new things.
I moved across the country for my bachelor’s degree and my desire to be a D1 athlete. I drove across the country again for the M.S. program at the University of Southern California. I needed a change, and USC was the best place for me to continue my study in journalism.
My nerdy personality allows me to cover a variety of topics, from the culture abuse in athletics, where I had to dig through NCAA survey data as well as create my own survey, to a story about homeless death in Los Angeles County, where I convinced the Coroner’s office to give me data which I made into an interactive map. Covering climate change and farming allowed me to obtain daily temperature and precipitation data which I analyzed to support the anecdotal claims from the farmers I talked to.
In the words of John Green, nerds “are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff … Nerds are allowed to love stuff.” My excitement has helped me get sources I wouldn’t normally get. For example, the farmers I talked to for my climate change story were happy because I was one of the only people who ever showed interest in their struggle outside of their community. A young woman who suffered abuse at the hands of her former coach talked to me because I was so passionate about her cause. My passion led me to win a reporting award at my undergraduate institution
I have always considered myself a contradiction. Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska I was a nerd, and cheerleader. When I went to QU I was a nerd who was also an athlete. Now, I’m a journalist who also loves math.
My love of math is what drove me to my minor in math at QU, and it’s launched my interest in data journalism. I love playing with a dataset to find just a little piece of information that can lead to a story.
But I didn’t just become a statistician because I like telling stories, specifically the stories of people. I like being able to take data and put a face to the numbers by explaining the impact of the data with a real life person. A story I did about climate change and farming is an example of that -- the increase in temperature is one thing, but farming, food and livelihood is another.
But I think my love for data also comes from a desire to get out of my comfort zone. The data world is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and organizations release new data. Because of that evolution, journalists need to be able to get out of their comfort zone and try new things.
I moved across the country for my bachelor’s degree and my desire to be a D1 athlete. I drove across the country again for the M.S. program at the University of Southern California. I needed a change, and USC was the best place for me to continue my study in journalism.
My nerdy personality allows me to cover a variety of topics, from the culture abuse in athletics, where I had to dig through NCAA survey data as well as create my own survey, to a story about homeless death in Los Angeles County, where I convinced the Coroner’s office to give me data which I made into an interactive map. Covering climate change and farming allowed me to obtain daily temperature and precipitation data which I analyzed to support the anecdotal claims from the farmers I talked to.
In the words of John Green, nerds “are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff … Nerds are allowed to love stuff.” My excitement has helped me get sources I wouldn’t normally get. For example, the farmers I talked to for my climate change story were happy because I was one of the only people who ever showed interest in their struggle outside of their community. A young woman who suffered abuse at the hands of her former coach talked to me because I was so passionate about her cause. My passion led me to win a reporting award at my undergraduate institution
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