When I arrived as a new agent on my squad, I was the only female and the youngest. Everyone was polite, but my caseload was full of dead-end leads that the older and more experienced agents didn’t want to waste their time on. My desk was at the end farthest…

During this pandemic, I’ve read many ridiculous articles about how resilience means “bouncing through” our obstacles — as though riding out this shitstorm is life on a trampoline. These bandaids of advice do nothing to encourage people to look for the deep healing they will need if they truly want…

Some of my biggest laughs come from watching Hollywood movies and TV shows depicting FBI agents as indestructible bullies walking that fine line between good and evil. They are either taking the law into their own hands in their pursuit of justice or abusing their power to crush the little…

My first job out of college sucked the soul out of me. My degree turned out to be more of a coupon with an expiration date than a ticket to a fulfilled life. I didn’t prosper on any level, and it began to affect my mental health. I had thoughts…

People talk a lot these days about being “cautiously optimistic” as we try to return to normal, whatever that is. Many Americans have begun a deep reconsideration of how they have lived, and how they should live in the future. Can we use this time in history to become better…

Wyoming winters can be hard, even harder when you live on a cattle ranch at an elevation of 7500 ft. When the wind whistled off Laramie Peak, one of our biggest worries was that the wind-driven snow would push the cattle into ravines where they would be covered up by…

As we continue to deal with the news geyser known as COVID, we’re left with the opportunity — no, the need — to take a closer look at our own lives. On one hand, science has triumphed. On the other hand, we feel as though we’re in a disaster movie…

As a kid, my parents gave me no choice — I was going to go to college after I graduated from high school. I had no clarity on what to do with my life, so I followed the blueprint laid out by my parents. I followed the path chosen for…

One of the first things I learned as a new FBI agent was that risk would always be part of my job. Not every day, and not in every investigation, but there would always be some element of risk if I wanted to move toward success. This applies to all…