Senior year of high school was the busiest and second most stressful year for me. At the time, I was putting in college application after college application. Unfortunately, I was also having an issue—I wasn’t passionate about my dream job. And it was only a matter of time before I realized that I had to come up with a plan B fast.

Throughout high school I had dreams of becoming the next Viola Davis. I knew I wanted to be an actress simply because I remember how excited I always was when my classmates picked me to read something out loud. I really enjoyed “getting into character.” When I was in the seventh grade I remember writing down all of my aspirations in life. Among those aspirations, of course, was to be an actress but to also be the CEO of my own business.

I had big dreams but did very little to ensure I accomplished those dreams. Senior year of high school, on Feb. 12 to be exact, was when I realized that acting just wasn’t the career for me. Before Feb. 12, I remember being asking if I was interested in another career in case acting didn’t work out. Initially I was annoyed with the question. However, I mentioned possibly doing journalism or being an author. At that moment I was still trying to convince myself that I was going to be an actress one way or another.

On Feb. 12 I remember being extremely nervous as my mom drove me to my audition at Virginia Commonwealth University. I had a gut feeling that I wasn’t going to do well but was determined to give it my all. For my audition I had to perform two monologues. And when things fell apart with my serious monologue, I knew then that acting just wasn’t for me.

Before my audition, it never clicked that I needed to pursue a career involving writing. Sophomore year I took my first newspaper class in which I wrote articles for our school newspaper. I was always super excited to write and my teacher ending up suggesting that I join the newspaper staff. The following school year, I joined the newspaper staff and began writing my own book on an app called Wattpad. I would always take the time to write out and edit my chapters before typing them on the app.

Junior year I also took a dual enrollment course in which my classmates and I were to write an essay each day or every other day. Aside from getting stumped with one prompt, I always found it fairly easy to write essays. And because I was so good at it, several of my classmates would occasionally ask for my help. Because of this, I ultimately chose to major in broadcast journalism at VCU.

Initially when I declared my major, I was scared. Most students at this college major in a science or have dreams of becoming doctors considering this school having one of the top medical programs in the state. I also was nervous because aside from being known for our medical field, VCU also has the best theater program in the state of Virginia. However, I am extremely happy I kept my current major. I realized that I needed to pick a career in which there would always be work to be done.

Today, I aspire to be a local news anchor. Each and every day I am looking for ways to work on my craft of journalism. I have the pleasure of being a reporter for a course called Capital News Service, in which I get to go the state Capitol and interview delegates. I have also been able to work in conjunction with an editor from Channel 8 and have been invited to do my internship at this station. It has also been really exciting having articles I’ve written for CNS published on websites for the Washington Post, the Seattle Times, and NBC12. All in all, I encourage you all to not let fear hold you back and choose a career that you really enjoy and not one that will simply make you rich.