Oxenden enjoys horsing around with Sassy.
By BRIANNA RODRIGUEZ
USFSP Student Reporter
McKenna Oxenden wakes up at 6 every morning to travel from St. Petersburg to Plant City to feed 25 horses before starting her job as a reporter at the Tampa Bay Times.
One of those horses is GG, a 15-year-old mare Oxenden has owned for six years. The name fits her well, Oxenden says, because she is so sassy.
Oxenden, 22, began horseback riding at age 6 and started competing four years later.
“It’s a big part of who I am and what I want to accomplish,” said Oxenden, who hopes to compete in the Olympics one day. “It keeps me sane. I’m not a very happy person if I don’t get to ride.”
She said that a lot of life lessons in riding translate to journalism.
“There is a lot of uncertainty, just like (in) journalism,” Oxenden said. Each day brings a new challenge: She doesn’t know how her horse will behave or what she’ll be covering at the newspaper.
There are hurdles in riding and in journalism, Oxenden says.
Oxenden was born in Maryland. She fell in love with journalism her senior year in high school, when she dropped a pre-calculus class and switched to journalism. She went on to study journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Oxenden began at the Times as a summer intern. She worked on web design last fall and started the new year as a one-year intern covering breaking news and general assignment in the St. Petersburg office.
She is also the producer and editor for the Times’ entertainment and culture podcast, “The Life of the Party,” which is released every Friday.
As a reporter, Oxenden said, one of her most memorable stories was about a father who police say tried to choke his son with a baby wipe. The mother of the 6-month-old boy was grateful for the chance to tell her story, Oxenden said.
Oxenden said she enjoys making a difference and having the opportunity to write stories like that.
“You’re writing history and holding people accountable,” she said.