 She found that she couldn't achieve her goals of "looking for ways to help people lead better lives" as a biochemist and developed an interest in journalism after writing for her high school newspaper during her senior year.She became interested in using her knowledge of science to convey information to the public and enrolled at the School of Journalism of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating in 1963 with a master's degree in science writing.After graduating, she spent two years as a general assignment reporter at the "Minneapolis Tribune".