My entire life, I've always switched through various ideas of what I wanted to do for a living. Not a lot of them made complete sense, but like any child, my early aspirations included being a firefighter, a baseball player, and a chef. Heck, at one point I even had the early dreams of becoming a real life power ranger. (I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish that was still an option). After 16 years of wondering what I could do with my future, I stumbled into my eleventh grade journalism class at Norwin High School. It was a class I took, not because I had any aspirations to become a professional journalist one day, but because it seemed like an interesting way to get an automatic A. What I didn't know, was that this was a class that would lead me to a love that I never knew I actually had.
I learned a lot throughout my first year of taking a journalism class. Most of it had to due with journalistic integrity and how not to be an idiot when it comes to grammatical errors, but I also learned about taking advantage of opportunities. I was the only Junior in my Introduction to Journalism class, mainly because I waited two years to take it with freshmen who were two years younger than me. My teacher, Ms. Thompson, allowed me to write stories for the monthly newspaper, even though most Intro to journalism students didn't get that opportunity. I made the most of it and used what a had learned (not a whole lot at that early point in the year) in order to do the best that I could and write stories that my peers would enjoy reading. Most of my pieces were about sports. I was a member of a couple of sports teams in high school and it was always a huge passion of mine. Whether it was baseball, basketball, football or cross country, I enjoyed putting pen to paper, typing my words on a computer screen, and seeing the final product right in front of me
Fast forward a year later to my senior year at Norwin High School. I am now entering my second journalism class, Journalism production. Here, not only did I get the opportunity to write sports pieces, but I also got to help work on pages for the school yearbook as well. The yearbook stuff was fun, but it was then that I knew that the newspaper aspect had won my affection. Ms. Thompson played a huge role in a huge part of my decision, regarding my future. While looking at an abundance of schools, I chose to spend my next four years at California University of Pennsylvania, a small college in California Pa, a mere 45 minute drive from my home. It was a difficult decision, knowing that there were a lot of other great schools that I considered, but there was one decision during the entire process that was entirely too simple. Choosing my major. Ms. Thompson and many of my high school English teachers always gave me a ton of confidence when it came to my writing. I knew for a fact that I wasn't the best, but I also knew that I was more than willing to learn. There was nothing I enjoyed more than seeing my name under an article in our school paper, and I knew this was the right choice for me.
As we fast forward three years, I couldn't be more happy with the decisions I have made in the past four years. I still have a long way to go in order to be the best writer I can be, but progress is being made. Since my high school days of wondering what my journalistic future had in store, I have never been more sure about what I want to do with my life. I have spent the last three years writing for my campus newspaper, and have even served as sports editor of the California Times. (I told you I loved sports). My college experience has been even better than I would have ever expected. I have made so many incredible memories with amazing friends and have gotten involved with various clubs around campus. I don't know everyone on campus, but it's a small community. There are countless amounts of people that I have encountered throughout my journey and I am so thankful for the people I have met along the way.
As I sit here babbling about the last few years of my life, I realize that my four years at Cal U are almost finished. I begin my final year in a little less than three weeks, and I've gotta tell you, it's a bittersweet feeling. This year, I will get the opportunity to serve as the Editor in Chief of the Cal Times Newspaper and help produce a quality weekly newspaper. Not too shabby for a guy who waited two years of high school to take his first journalism class, huh? I also get the chance to some big things with a couple of other clubs on campus, which I could not be any more excited about.
The point of this incoherent babbling known as a blog post is to encourage people to dream big. Everything happens for a reason and you will stumble upon success. So, take part in something you enjoy and take advantage of every opportunity that you get. You never know when intentions such as getting an easy A in a class will turn into something even bigger.
I learned a lot throughout my first year of taking a journalism class. Most of it had to due with journalistic integrity and how not to be an idiot when it comes to grammatical errors, but I also learned about taking advantage of opportunities. I was the only Junior in my Introduction to Journalism class, mainly because I waited two years to take it with freshmen who were two years younger than me. My teacher, Ms. Thompson, allowed me to write stories for the monthly newspaper, even though most Intro to journalism students didn't get that opportunity. I made the most of it and used what a had learned (not a whole lot at that early point in the year) in order to do the best that I could and write stories that my peers would enjoy reading. Most of my pieces were about sports. I was a member of a couple of sports teams in high school and it was always a huge passion of mine. Whether it was baseball, basketball, football or cross country, I enjoyed putting pen to paper, typing my words on a computer screen, and seeing the final product right in front of me
Fast forward a year later to my senior year at Norwin High School. I am now entering my second journalism class, Journalism production. Here, not only did I get the opportunity to write sports pieces, but I also got to help work on pages for the school yearbook as well. The yearbook stuff was fun, but it was then that I knew that the newspaper aspect had won my affection. Ms. Thompson played a huge role in a huge part of my decision, regarding my future. While looking at an abundance of schools, I chose to spend my next four years at California University of Pennsylvania, a small college in California Pa, a mere 45 minute drive from my home. It was a difficult decision, knowing that there were a lot of other great schools that I considered, but there was one decision during the entire process that was entirely too simple. Choosing my major. Ms. Thompson and many of my high school English teachers always gave me a ton of confidence when it came to my writing. I knew for a fact that I wasn't the best, but I also knew that I was more than willing to learn. There was nothing I enjoyed more than seeing my name under an article in our school paper, and I knew this was the right choice for me.
As we fast forward three years, I couldn't be more happy with the decisions I have made in the past four years. I still have a long way to go in order to be the best writer I can be, but progress is being made. Since my high school days of wondering what my journalistic future had in store, I have never been more sure about what I want to do with my life. I have spent the last three years writing for my campus newspaper, and have even served as sports editor of the California Times. (I told you I loved sports). My college experience has been even better than I would have ever expected. I have made so many incredible memories with amazing friends and have gotten involved with various clubs around campus. I don't know everyone on campus, but it's a small community. There are countless amounts of people that I have encountered throughout my journey and I am so thankful for the people I have met along the way.
As I sit here babbling about the last few years of my life, I realize that my four years at Cal U are almost finished. I begin my final year in a little less than three weeks, and I've gotta tell you, it's a bittersweet feeling. This year, I will get the opportunity to serve as the Editor in Chief of the Cal Times Newspaper and help produce a quality weekly newspaper. Not too shabby for a guy who waited two years of high school to take his first journalism class, huh? I also get the chance to some big things with a couple of other clubs on campus, which I could not be any more excited about.
The point of this incoherent babbling known as a blog post is to encourage people to dream big. Everything happens for a reason and you will stumble upon success. So, take part in something you enjoy and take advantage of every opportunity that you get. You never know when intentions such as getting an easy A in a class will turn into something even bigger.