I was never good at keeping a diary or a journal, whichever word you prefer. As a child I loved the idea of writing down what had transpired during the day, but the monotonous school day is only so exciting so many times and eventually I would give up and the diary would be tucked into a drawer, untouched. But, without fail, a brand new empty notebook occasionally with a heart shaped lock would make its way back into my hands and I would attempt once again to keep a journal.

The cycle continued until one day I decided to write about some fantastical dream I had that took place in a far off land I had read in a story. From there I began to write down stories, needless to say, this didn’t last long either. Mostly because even back then I knew my stories were bad and I’m sure if I was to read them now I’d find them even worse than where I left them off.

I struggled as a writer to make a story come to life without making it seem like I was just listing the basic senses and forcing the scene on my non existent readers. Eventually I stopped buying notebooks and people stopped giving them to me.

And then something changed. Something changed specifically in English 102 my first semester at college. I loved doing that research paper. Digging through information to find the right quote and learning all about a topic I had never broached before reignited the fire and suddenly I was writing again, but not just writing, but reporting.

I had figured it out. All along, I was meant to be a storyteller but not of fantastical worlds rather of the real world.

As a journalist, I strive to tell the truth about the world, to paint a picture with my words that is honest, maybe it’s occasionally ugly, but it’s real. And thankfully I’ve learned to describe the senses in an alluring way, not one that hits in you in the face like a baseball bat.

As a journalist, I know a lot of other journalists, my classes are filled with them, I’ve had the honor of meeting some and I have been given the privilege of interviewing several.

We all come from different backgrounds and we all aspire to pursue different objectives with our degree, but we share a common goal as truthseekers to find a story and share it as accurately as we can be it through our words or our images.

I write, not because of some childhood dream, but to share the world with you, it may be ugly, it may be beautiful, it may be heartwarming, it may be offensive. It may be every word in the book and then something in between, but it will always be true and as a writer you can take my word.