He studied journalism and English at Northern Illinois University and in 2007, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. A 2007 Poynter Summer Fellow for Visual Journalism, Billy worked on the copy desk at the Rockford Register Star in 2005 and the design desk of the Orlando Sentinel in 2007. He's working as a design intern at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies through the end of 2007. Billy returns to the Register Star as a graphic artist beginning in 2008.Billy digs Bad Religion, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and new media. He entered the world of journalism after hearing ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick tell his listeners that if they wanted to do what he did for a living, they needed to write as often as they could. He promptly enrolled at his local community college and has worked in newspapers ever since.