A little bit more

Growing up, I knew I loved to be the center of attention. Not in a condescending way but more so that I felt I always had something important to say and wanted my voice to be heard.

I played many sports growing up, but volleyball was the one I stuck with. As I entered my freshman year of high school, I knew I didn’t want to play at the next level; I wanted to prioritize my education even if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I took a journalism and photojournalism class that year and loved the concept. Writing a piece that would move someone made me feel powerful.

After that year, I knew I wanted to transition into on-camera, whether hosting award shows, being a motivational speaker, or being a news anchor. I wanted to have a platform to share stories and inspire others.

As my sophomore year rolled around, I was randomly enrolled in Advanced Broadcast Journalism, which I had no clue what it was about. This was an upperclassmen course, and somehow, I had snuck in. This was the best thing that could have happened to me. My teacher encouraged me to find my passion and chase it.

I was thrown in front of the camera; it gave me the confidence to be able to speak my mind. It’s when it all clicked: this is what I want to do: talk sports for a living. Looking back at those tapes, they sucked, but it gave me confidence. Being able to interview coaches and players and talk about my peers and their accomplishments in sports.

Shortly after, I began to take photos of our high school baseball team as a hobby. And soon, everyone was texting me to come to their sporting events. And I agreed.

Once my junior year rolled around, our broadcast journalism program had been pulled from the school due to funding, which left me on my own. I felt as if my world was falling apart. I had just found out what I wanted to do for a living to be back to square one. I continued to photograph sporting events but missed the feeling of being in front of the camera.

Then COVID hit and shut everything down.

My senior year resumed, I wanted to put my best foot forward as I wanted to go to a good college. I still did photos for all of our sporting events but wanted to do something journalism-related, so I joined VYPE U, a Houston sports magazine.

As a lost kid entering high school, by a miraculous happy accident, I came out knowing what exactly I wanted to do. If it weren’t for that class and getting hands-on experience anchoring sports or doing stand-ups, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Since then, I've had internships that helped me pursue this passion of mine like my very first one with Rice Athletics where I began to take photos as a Senior in college. This would lead to me working with Texas Athletics and being a huge asset to Texas Baseball, a team I've always wanted to work with. While pursuing a journalism degree with a sports media minor at The University of Texas at Austin. My time here is almost coming to an end but I'll forever be grateful for the events I've gotten to cover as a journalist and as a creative.

I would never have had it if it wasn’t for that one class in high school that altered my life and gave me a clear vision of what I wanted to do.