While it isn’t every journalist’s dream, going national is mine. If I have my way it wouldn’t be long before you turn on TODAY and see me there whether on-location as a correspondent or at the desk with Hoda and Savannah. It seems far fetched when you’re on the local level, but after getting a one-off opportunity to experience being on national television it felt a lot more feasible to me.

Unfortunately, the opportunity came at the expense of many lives. Some lost and others changed forever. In June of 2022, an Amtrak train crashed into a dump truck in the area of Mendon, Missouri. It was about two hours away from where I was working in Kansas City. On the night of the crash, I got word from one of my managers that there was a potential for CBS Mornings wanting us to provide them with coverage since they did not send a correspondent of their own. It was truly all by chance since I happened to be the only reporter that morning.

My usual call time to work was around 3:30 a.m., but that morning I had to come in around 1 a.m. Our colleagues from CBS News in New York drafted up a script for me to record and send to them so that they could compile the story. Then once we arrived in Mendon, I’d send back the live look at the scene. In the midst of such a tragedy, I knew it was my time to truly step up and show what I could do. Deliver gut-wrenching, heartbreaking news to the best of my ability as a local reporter in a sea of correspondents from any network you could name. They were all lined up with their big trucks, bright lights, umbrellas, music stands to hold their papers and field producers. It was simply me and my photographer.

On the way to the scene I made sure to send out a Facebook post letting family and friends know for probably the only time for a while, they could finally tune on their televisions and watch me do what I do best. Not only would they see me report, but they’d also see Nate Burleson tossing to me and Gayle King wrapping it up by thanking me for the report.

I worked through my script the whole way there. In between doing hits for our own news, I was then tasked to record several “in and outs” for the various CBS entities. For the main morning show, the local affiliates and their streaming service. It was a lot of work but it was riveting and it proved to me that I can do it.

While I’m not a face on the network just yet, I believe deeply that it is on the way with each passing day. And I am certain that I will be ready. If I did it once, I’m confident I can do it again.