This project, done for my Advanced Photojournalism class in Spring '08, was both my first photo story and my first multimedia project. It was also the most in-depth project I've done so far. I spent several weeks with Layla collecting material for this in order to give a good glimpse into her everyday life.

This project really changed my ideas of what I want to be as a journalist. I decided that I wanted and could do so much more than write. I wanted to touch people and bring them closer to a subject or an issue through multimedia. Not only that--the creative process was incredibly rewarding for me.

Now, watching it I cringe at some things that I would definitely improve on, but that is part of learning, and I look forward to each project I do being a little better than the last.