Ms. Parks grew up in Georgia and Louisiana. She attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., where she was also an editor at the Jackson Free Press. As a graduate student in journalism at the University of Missouri, In 2006, Ms. Parks was selected the first winner of the “Win a Trip with Nick Kristof’ contest. She blogged about her experiences in Africa for the Times and MTV. She currently works as a reporter for The Oregonian covering city government and livability issues in Hillsboro and Aloha.