Maura Healy

Hello! My name is Maura Healy and, to the best of my knowledge, I was born in Wuhan, China. I was found by the Chinese police in a marketplace when I was 12 days old. I lived the first 15 months of my life in an orphanage and with a foster family. In February 1998, I was adopted by my parents, Pat and Shannon Healy, moved to Shawnee Mission, KS and became the fifth child in their Irish Catholic family. I guess you would say I'm a Chinese American, but in the strictest form of the word, I'm truly neither. Had I stayed in China, I probably would have been a Buddhist. Growing up in Kansas City, I attended Notre Dame de Sion grade school and high school, although I am not a practicing Catholic. I tell you this because I have never seemed to be who I look like from the outside. I believe this dichotomy has stimulated a passion for Journalism and the recognition that we need to learn the facts before forming an opinion.
I am beginning my Sophomore year at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I hope to study documentary journalism, which is the main reason I transferred from Creighton University in the fall of 2016. Since becoming a student at UMC, I am involved in a number of clubs and organizations including Mizzou Women in Media, Triangle Coalition, Queer and Trans People of Color and MUTV. All of my previous education has been at Catholic institutions - an all-women private high school and a Jesuit university - and I am excited to attend a public, state university. I believe we not only learn in the classroom but also through experience. I am hoping to participate in UMC's Global Service program this summer in Thailand and work part time at a local Chinese restaurant.