"What am I doing right now and for the rest of my life?"
I found myself asking that question following my second year at UB as a communication major with an English minor. After starting my college education in the School of Management, I quickly realized it wasn't for me.
It was not the path I wished for. Throughout my life, I enjoyed expressing myself by writing and the business route wouldn't have allowed me to truly fulfill that desire.
One class at UB made me decide to take a risk.
Every Tuesday night, I would travel from Clement Hall on South Campus to Clemens on North - often through awful snow and wind - for a two-hour-and-40-minute seminar about the "Ethics of Journalism." Sounds dull, right? This couldn't be further from the truth.
The course was led by a Buffalo News editor named Bruce Andriatch. He told us countless stories - many he experienced firsthand - about life as a journalist and decisions he had to make from an ethical point of view. Journalists have a code they have to follow, just as police officers and doctors do.
His stories had me captivated.
That summer, I decided to give it a shot. I signed up for The Spectrum and as I sit here, writing to you just 12 months later, I can honestly say it may have been my best decision yet.
Through journalism, I have been able to tell not only others' stories but my own as well.
Some of you may have seen my column from early in the spring 2013 semester titled, "Finding my own voice." I wrote about how I am a journalist who stutters.
I admitted all the fears, anxieties and apprehensions I had during my first semester writing for a college newspaper. As I gained experience, my confidence and composure grew as well.
It has all culminated in the position I have now. As one of three sports editors, I look forward to covering all of our university's sports to the best of my ability and asking the questions students want answered.
No Division I coach enjoys criticism or second guessing - especially from some punk 21-year-old - but that is what I expect to do this year. I hope to get meaningful quotes and explanations out of coaches and administration as to the future of our programs.
And yes, I say "our" for a reason. We are all Bulls. We are all members of the Buffalo community and I hope I can do my part to make it as enjoyable and fulfilling as possible.
Buffalo athletics are moving in the right direction. I'm proud to be able to report on them for the time being.
If you see me around campus, stop me. Tell me what should be in our paper.
