scott gerdes

At MDN I interviewed coaches and athletes for local sports stories, attended games, took photographs, wrote a bimonthly column, paginated for the sports section, created headlines, copy edited and wrote other stories as assigned. I also uploaded web content and utilized social media.

Edited and proofread educational testing materials and provided quality assurance on standardized tests for state and district education departments across the country. Materials included teachers' manuals, answer documents, test booklets, score reports and proposals. Proofread and edited copy and printer proofs for proper punctuation, syntax, grammar, voice, spelling, usage and style according to client guidelines, corrected factual, grammatical, typographical or compositional errors using the Chicago Manual of Style. Created company-wide style manual.

Varsity tennis (starting in 9th grade), DECA, yearbook photography. Activities and Societies: Varsity tennis, DECA

I coveted creative writing, art and photography. In an advertising course we created a new brand/ad campaign for a local bookstore. The performance art class was by far the most interesting, most uncomfortable and creatively challenging experience. I tested out of Rhetoric. Hated math. I took two courses in the Iowa Writers' Workshop, including poetry taught by Paul Engle. I wrote a lot of short stories because I'm drawn to description and dialogue. Away from the library, a friend and I almost got arrested for being too rowdy after a Pat Benatar concert. Yes, I partied ... it was the '80s. I survived living in the same house with Tom Arnold. I went to every Iowa Hawkeyes home football/basketball game. I delivered pizzas until I got mugged. My parents said I wouldn't find a lucrative writing job outside of reporting. I thought journalism cramped my style. Then I was handed my first human interest assignment and quickly realized that my writing voice could live in the real world.