About Katelyn Avery

Katelyn Avery works out of the New York Metropolitan Area, and was born in 1993. She is a December 2013 graduate of Housatonic Community College, and a May 2016 graduate of Central Connecticut State University. From CCSU she is a  Journalism major and History minor. As someone who has enjoyed writing since childhood Katelyn is very excited to see where her career choice will take her.

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Some of my story:

Suburbia raised me, but I love the city. I’m pretty sure most suburbanites do. Connecticut’s pretty cool since I can be a fake New Yorker when I want too.

I played AYSO soccer until seventh grade. Defense was my favorite position before I had to give it up. The other kids were leaving for travel teams and the “pay to play fees” were becoming a hassle. Remember my twin sister Jen also played. We were also scrambling for coaches. I knew I wasn’t going to play in high school, so dropping soccer wasn’t that bad. I enjoyed sports though.

I had participated in school plays in elementary school, and I wanted to continue in middle school. I didn’t make it in sixth grade, which was a little devastating, but I practiced by singing a lot in chorus, and was able to participate in seventh and eighth grade. The plays were “Peter Pan” and then “Almost Treasure Island”.

I was part of the chorus in my schools performance of “42nd Street” in ninth grade. After that I began to focus more on writing. I took Journalism in my sophomore and junior year of high school. I also continued to be a staff writer during my senior year. Cultural Diversity club, and a literary and art magazine named “Broken Shells”, also reeled me in. I made the commercials for Cultural Diversity club and one for “Broken Shells”. I participated in a few more things along the way, but chorus was one of the major activities. My ninth, eleventh and twelfth grade schedule allowed room for chorus, and I loved the experience. We even performed at Yale during my senior year.

Housatonic Community College came next, during the fall of 2011. It wasn’t the original plan because of the no dorms thing, but I saved a lot of money and met wonderful people. I was also able to hold a work-study job from March 2012 until December 2013, when I graduated.

I could relate to most of the people at HCC and I enjoyed being a member of the history club during my first year. We traveled to Gettysburg, PA and Williamsburg, VA together. I would have stayed in that club, but I had to start taking journalism classes. Schedule conflicts seems to be the story of my life.

It was hard to go a year without articles but when the paper finally came back to me it was all worth it. By spring 2013 I was an editor. In fall 2013 I was done with the newspaper classes but I stayed on as editor at large. I just couldn’t give up writing.

I graduated HCC in December 2013 with an associate’s degree in Journalism. By January I was itching to write again, so I started this blog. Although it was kavery833.wordpress.com back then. Eventually I figured out how to change the URL. I changed the URL again on December 2nd. I now have my own domain.

As for now I’m attending a four year university in order to receive my Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, with a minor in History. My graduation prospects are set for May 2016.

On July 7th, 2014 I became a “real journalist”. I was officially published by the Worcester Herald. I wrote a (freelance) weekly column until mid October 2014. My archive link is listed under the Published work tab. Please take a look at my articles, along with other Worcester Herald posts.

On September 9th, 2014 I had my first slide show published by Rantchic.com. I left Rantchic.com in November, 2014. My Rantchic.com archive link is listed under the Published work tab.

In March 2015 I started my time as a DJ at 107.7 WFCS New Britain/Hartford. WFCS is the radio station of Central Connecticut State University, with the DJ’s being comprised of undergrad students, and community volunteers.

After graduation I began working at a homeless shelter here in Connecticut. I have been a Supervisor at the homeless shelter since December 2016. It’s an adventure every day.

-Katelyn Avery

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Other: Survivor of a bipolar father. My Dad slapped me around and pulled my hair as a kid. He banged me into walls too, as well as telling me women were bad, I was a b***h, and to hang myself in a tree. At the same time I think he did love me. He just gets things wrong sometimes. The abuse stopped when his physical health declined. I was in (late) high school then. He is finally seeing a new doctor, after spending time in the psych ward (2 weeks in Summer 2014). I have always loved my Mother, and she says she wishes she had done something when I was growing up. We are trying to deal with that now. My parents are still together, despite my wish for my Mom to leave him. As hard as it is, I have to accept the fact that my Dad may never understand he was abusive. It wasn’t the worst level of abuse by any means, but in late high school and college I really came to terms with how bad it was. For any other people out there with mentally ill parents I choose to live. You have to choose to live. We all have to make that jump to adulthood.