When Melissa headed off to Union College in Schenectady, NY, she had no trouble choosing a major—biology. But she continued to take literature and writing classes, and she contributed many articles to the campus newspaper.

Melissa never considered writing professionally until one of her biology professors suggested it. At the time, Melissa was doing a senior research project that involved sequencing fruit fly DNA. Professor Karen Williams showed Melissa a related article in Discover magazine and told her she could have written the piece. Melissa knew Professor Williams was right, and suddenly, her future path stretched out before her.

A few days later, Melissa applied to New York University’s prestigious Science and Environmental Reporting Program. Luckily, she was accepted.

After graduating, Melissa worked as an editor for nine years. Finally, she mustered the courage to quit her job and started writing fulltime. Now she gets paid to learn everything she can about the natural world and share it with other people. What could be better than that?