Tommie Brown returns home, joins Menifee 24/7 staff

Menifee 24/7 is pleased to introduce you to our new staff writer, Tommie Brown.

Born in Los Angeles, her parents were going to name her Tommy or Tommie, one way or the other, she says. A Menifee resident since age 6, Tommie attended Ridgemoor Elementary School, Menifee Valley Middle School and Paloma Valley High School, At Paloma, she was Homecoming Queen in 2012 and served as Editor-in-Chief of the school yearbook.

After attending Mt. San Jacinto College for a year, Tommie chased her dreams to the big city of New York, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in English from St. John's Univerity.

"I lived in New York City for the last five years," Tommie said. "I worked for Vice HBO, wrote for my university newspaper, started my own blog and online magazine, and was published in MSJC’s Flight art book. I also had every job in between to make it in New York, from working with kids, to a coffee shop, to retail on 5th Avenue.

"But after five years, I decided that my love for Menifee was still even greater than my love for city lights. So I moved back home to start my life in our town with my family (mom and three siblings)."

Tommie's first published article for Menifee 24/7 was on the recent city Emergency Preparedness Fair. She is busy working on several other stories and will contribute to our video coverage as well.

"From everything I accomplished in college and in New York as a whole, Homecoming Queen and the small high school honors I received still reign as my favorite, because this town raised me," Tommie said. "This city knows me better than anyone, and I’ve always known that no matter where I went on this earth, I would always find my way back to Menifee.

"There’s something about our small town feel and running into everyone you’ve ever known in Target or Starbucks that even the biggest city in America can't beat."